Some at Arsenal could be open to the summer sale of Martin Odegaard, but Mikel Arteta is reportedly less likely to sanction it.
Matt Verri reports for The Standard that there’s a decision for Arsenal to make on Martin Odegaard’s future this summer, with the player entering the final two years of his contract.
Verri claims that some in the Arsenal hierarchy might be open to Odegaard’s sale, with sales required this summer to fund recruitment, and a big first-team departure possible. The expectation is that Odegaard would attract a huge fee.
But Verri adds that it’s doubtful Mikel Arteta would sanction Odegaard’s departure, which is obviously a major factor.
The Arsenal manager has a lot of say in the club’s transfer business more generally, and you’d imagine he’d have even more influence when it comes to sales.
If Arteta wants to keep a player, it makes little sense to sell and replace with someone the coach might not want as much. It would only be worth it if Arsenal desperately needed the money to stay afloat (which isn’t the case) or if it would fund the signing of a player Arteta needed more.
Odegaard isn’t a disruptive influence in the squad, and he’s a consistent performer when he’s available, so the list of justifications to sell isn’t a long one.
Odegaard did have serious injury issues in 2025/26, for the first time in his career. The 27-year-old suffered repeated setbacks throughout the campaign, making it hard to rely on his availability in any given week.
The Arsenal man did still manage nine goal contributions in all competitions, and he’s followed that up with a goal and an assist in his first two post-season matches with Norway.
With the summer to come, hopefully he’ll have some time to fully recover before the new campaign kicks off. But there are evidently some people at Arsenal who would consider cashing in for the right bid.
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