‘If I am honest’: Ray Parlour thinks Arsenal wanted to sign £70m player before Odegaard

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Ray Parlour thinks James Maddison was ‘higher up to buy’ for Arsenal in the summer than Martin Odegaard, as he told talkSPORT.

The Highbury legend thinks Maddison’s potential asking price of ‘£70 million’ was ‘too much’ for Arsenal to do business with Leicester City.

Prior to Odegaard signing on a permanent basis for the Champions League-chasing side, they first brought him to the club on a loan deal from Real Madrid.

There seemingly wasn’t any intention to make that permanent, as he returned to Spain after a steady spell in north London.

But as the summer transfer window was drawing to a close, Mikel Arteta pushed for the Norway international’s signature and snapped him up.

Ex-midfielder Parlour likes what he sees from the left-footed playmaker and shared that he has been ‘excellent’ for the club.

“He has done really well,” said Parlour. “He is the sort of player that works hard off the ball, which you need as much as being the creative player.

“Odegaard has been excellent. When he was on loan, he probably showed enough for the manager to say ‘let’s get him on a permanent basis’.

“I think, if I am honest, Maddison would have been higher up to buy than Odegaard, at the time. But Leicester might have been asking for too much money.

“Probably, at the time, they couldn’t throw £70 million at a player, so they have gone with Odegaard and it has been a good decision because he has played well in the past few weeks.”

There were rumours surfacing over the course of the summer that the Gunners were keen to bring the Leicester City man to the Emirates, as reported by Football London.

But the long-range specialist stayed put and he has had a brilliant few weeks for his club.

After 18 league matches, he has scored five goals and has three assists to his name, including scoring a long-range belter at Anfield during his side’s EFL Cup defeat against Liverpool.

But those in Arsenal colours won’t be too fussed because Odegaard has also been outstanding for them, scoring four goals and supplying three assists for his teammates.