Arsenal shelled out a fee of around £30m for Martin Odegaard this summer, but they’re expecting him to be worth double that in the near future.

Burnley v Arsenal - Premier League - Turf Moor Arsenal s Martin Odegaard celebrates scoring their side s first goal of the game during the Premier League match at Turf Moor, Burnley. Picture date: Saturday September 18, 2021. Copyright: Anthony Devlin
Burnley v Arsenal – Premier League – Turf Moor Arsenal s Martin Odegaard celebrates scoring their side s first goal of the game during the Premier League match at Turf Moor, Burnley. Picture date: Saturday, September 18, 2021. Copyright: Anthony Devlin

Fabrizio Romano (via IB Times) reports that Arsenal are convinced Martin Odegaard will be worth double what they paid for him in the coming months and years.

The Gunners brought Odegaard in for around £30m this summer, but there were a lot of factors that went into that fee.

Carlo Ancelotti didn’t seem hugely keen on him, Odegaard was happy to leave, Real Madrid really needed the money, and Arsenal didn’t have many rivals for the signing in a deflated market where most European clubs couldn’t even afford £30m.

Odegaard also only had a couple of years on his contract in Spain, so his value was unlikely to go up even if the market recovers over the coming year.

It’s a different story at Arsenal, where he’s a starter on a long contract, for a club that look like they’re going to rely on him, with a manager who pushed hard to bring him in.

Combine that with the player’s potential to continue to develop his game and improve at just 22, and it’s perfectly reasonable to suggest he could be worth £60m+ in a couple of seasons.

It will ultimately come down to performances. Some factors are out of Odegaard’s control, but if he doesn’t play well he’ll never be worth more than he is now.

The goal against Burnley, the assist against West Brom, and the overall performance against Norwich City were all big positives. Now he has to do it again in the North London derby this weekend.