Mikel Arteta says Arsene Wenger ‘told’ him about Martin Odegaard six years before he joined Arsenal

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Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been one of Mikel Arteta’s finest signings, but he could have even joined a lot earlier.

When Odegaard was a teenager, he was the most sought-after wonderkid in football, and every top club was lining up to sign him when he was just 15.

Odegaard deliberated over his decision, visiting a number of clubs for trial sessions including Arsenal, before then joining Real Madrid, and he made his debut for Los Blancos when he was 16, coming on as a substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo.

A lack of game time stifled his progress for a while, and he ended up on loan at Arsenal in January 2021, a move which was made permanent six months later.

Mikel Arteta brought Odegaard to North London and eventually made him club captain, but he has now revealed that he was well aware of the Norweigan long before he joined Arsenal, thanks to Arsene Wenger.

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Mikel Arteta claims Arsene Wenger told him about Martin Odegaard in 2015

Speaking to club media, Arteta recounted the story of how Odegaard visited Arsenal before joining Real Madrid, and claimed that Wenger had told him about the midfielder during his teenage years.

“Yes I did (follow Odegaard closely),” Arteta told Theo Walcott when asked about Odegaard.

“Obviously I knew the story really well, because Arsene had told us about him. Then after that, he made an obvious call to go to Real Madrid, for sure.

“Was it too early for him? It added a huge expectations and he didn’t have enough time to play, then he made I think the right call to go to my hometown (Real Sociedad), and we made him a man, and then the story began there.”

How Martin Odegaard ended up at Arsenal

Odegaard was sent on several loan spells in his early years at Real Madrid, and in 2020, he agreed a two-year loan at Real Sociedad.

It was in the Basque Country that Odegaard started to excel, and alongside Arsenal targets Mikel Merino and Alexander Isak, he thrived as he even helped knock Real Madrid out of the Copa Del Rey.

The midfielder was so good at Real Sociedad that Real Madrid decided to cut his loan short by a year. However, he could not get a look in under Zinedine Zidane, and he then joined Arsenal on loan.

Six years after Odegaard visited Arsenal before signing for Real Madrid, he signed for the club, and who knows how differently he may have developed had he joined Wenger’s side in 2015.