Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal will hold talks over the potential signing of Martin Odegaard in the next few weeks.

Arsenal are set for a busy summer, and one of many issues to address is the future of their current crop of loan signings.

Dani Ceballos is certain to return to Real Madrid, whilst Arsenal are seemingly planning a bid for Mat Ryan. But Martin Odegaard’s future seems to be in the balance after he concluded his loan with an assist on Sunday.

From Arsenal’s point of view, they seem to want to keep him. David Ornstein says he’s the club’s “first-choice target” in midfield, and Mikel Arteta appeared to be hinting they want him back in his post-Brighton press conference – but he knows it won’t be easy.

“Well, we have a very clear and strong opinion on what we would like to do,” Arteta began. “He’s not our player. We’ll have discussions in the next few weeks, but first of all, we need to respect that he’s a Real Madrid player.

“We’ll have those communications. We’ve tried to make everything that we could to get Martin performing for the team, which I think he’s done, and he has adapted really well to our way of playing and to our football club.

“Hopefully, we have given him the hope and the feeling that this could be a good place for him. I don’t know (if he’ll stay). It’s not in our hands. I don’t know.”

It’s going to be interesting to see how those Real Madrid talks pan out. If they’re really keen to keep him, it may be out of Arsenal’s hands, as the Gunners can’t really afford to put in a huge bid. They need Real to be open to negotiation.

We also need clarity over Odegaard’s wishes, after Arsenal’s failure to qualify for European football next season. He’ll probably hold talks of his own with his parent club to try and figure out his next steps. It’s all up in the air right now.