“I wanted to be a part of that” – Martin Odegaard explains why he decided to join Arsenal from Real Madrid

Former Real Madrid attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard has revealed that Arsenal’s footballing project played a big part in persuading him to join the Gunners on a permanent basis last summer.

Having been on Real Madrid’s payroll for six years, Odegaard joined Arsenal at the start of the current campaign for €35 million. The Norway international, who enjoyed a successful six-month loan spell at the English club last summer, has been an instrumental member of Mikel Arteta’s side. He has already played in 27 matches across competitions this season, registering five goals and four assists.

Looking back on his decision to join the Gunners, the 23-year-old explained that he was convinced by the north London club’s project and vision.

When asked to recall why he decided to move to the Emirates, Odegaard told BT Sport:

“The project. 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.”

He added:

“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.”

Odegaard played only 11 games for the Real Madrid senior team across all competitions. He did not register a single goal or assist for Los Merengues.

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Arsenal star Martin Odegaard did not find his footing at Real Madrid

The Norwegian first joined the Real Madrid B team, Castilla, in January 2015 from his local club Stromsgodset.

He was promoted to the senior team a couple of years later but was immediately sent on loan to Dutch club Heerenveen.

Los Blancos were committed to their development plan for the player and arranged a loan to fellow Dutch outfit Vitesse following his return from Heerenveen.

A season-long loan spell at Real Sociedad followed in 2019-20, after which the player was given a chance to impress at the Santiago Bernabeu. Unfortunately, then Real manager Zinedine Zidane did not have any use for an attacking midfielder, which practically decided his fate in the Spanish capital.

The midfielder only managed to make seven La Liga appearances in the first half of the 2020-21 campaign.

In January 2021, another loan spell was agreed, this time with Arsenal. Having enjoyed a fruitful half-season spell with the Gunners, Odegaard chose to make the move permanent last summer.

Odegaard has been instrumental in Arsenal's revival of late. The Gunners are now fourth in the Premier League and have won four games on the trot. They face Leicester City on Sunday.