Martin Odegaard is not only inspiring multiple column inches of praise from Arsenal fans, he is also triggering regret in the Spanish press, with one outlet saying it was a ‘big mistake’ to let him leave.

Mikel Arteta snapped him up for the bargain price of €35m and the Norwegian has grown in stature ever since.

At the end of 2021, the Spanish press started to question Real Madrid’s decision to allow Martin Odegaard to leave the club.

Héctor Andreu, opining on the Spanish site Fichajes.net this week, wrote of Odegaard, “As we say, Martin Odegaard has stepped up this season at Arsenal and has become the kind of player everyone thought he was going to be, despite spending several years stagnant at Real Madrid.

“Today those 35 million euros that Londoners paid for him know very little and his market value already reaches 45 million euros.

“This season is his explosion on the pitch and he has already contributed with five goals and four assists, but beyond the numbers, any dangerous action goes through his boots.

“It was a big mistake for Real Madrid not to trust him.”

Odegaard explains why he decided to leave Real Madrid

Earlier this month, Martin Odegaard explained why he decided to leave Real Madrid.

It was a big call, with no guarantees that he wouldn’t have been better off sticking it out in Madrid and hoping his positive Arsenal loan would see him finally breaking into their team.

Instead, Odegaard chose to join Arsenal permanently. Last week, he explained how the  Gunners convinced him.

“The project,” Odegaard said.

“The way the club and the manager wanted to do things, what they wanted to build here and how they wanted to play and to improve.

“Also what they said about me and how they wanted to use me, how they saw me as a player and what I could bring to the team and what they could offer to me.

“It was just the combination of all those things and the big project that is going on here, I wanted to be a part of that.”