Martin Odegaard is happy at Arsenal and keen to stay, with hope over contract extension talks, according to a report.
Tom Canton reports for Football.London that sources close to Martin Odegaard have affirmed that the player remains happy at Arsenal and keen to stay.
Canton adds that there is also hope that talks over a contract extension could begin in the near future.
The journalist reiterates his previous report that rumours of transfer links between Odegaard and Turkish club Galatasaray are also without foundation.
Media reports had suggested that Odegaard’s agent was in Istanbul during the World Cup, and that the player’s camp had reached an agreement with Galatasaray over personal terms for a potential summer transfer.
But these were shot down by Canton and Sam Dean of The Telegraph, who reported that Odegaard was never in talks to join Galatasaray, and that his agent wasn’t even in Turkey. Instead, the player’s representative was with his client in the United States at the World Cup.
The player has had bad luck with his fitness over the last 12 months, but Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal squad continue to back him fully.
With Norway suffering World Cup elimination to England over the weekend, Odegaard has now begun his minimum three-week summer holiday. That means a return to pre-season with Arsenal at the start of August at the very earliest.
In all likelihood, Odegaard will miss Arsenal’s opening friendly against Girona, and probably the game against Real Betis the following midweek. After that, he should be available for the rest of the pre-season schedule.
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