Real Madrid still see Martin Odegaard as a key part of their future and were annoyed with the Arsenal loanee after he refused to rule out a permanent move to the Emirates, as reported by Defensa Central.
While Zinedine Zidane might not value the Norwegian play-maker all that highly, there is a very real chance that Odegaard could still outlast the three-time Champions League-winning coach at the Bernabeu.
Zidane has come under fire after an underwhelming season, with Real handing over their La Liga crown to bitter rivals Atletico while suffering a humiliating defeat to third-tier Alcoyano in the Copa del Rey.
So, while the Frenchman’s future remains as uncertain as ever under trigger-happy president Florentino Perez, Defensa Central reports that Odegaard will be wearing that iconic white shirt for years to come.
That is the plan anyway.
After spells at Real Sociedad, Heerenveen and Vitesse Arnhem, Odegaard was farmed out on yet another loan deal in January, joining Arsenal until the end of the 2020/21 campaign.
And, when asked about whether he would like to stay full-time at the Emirates, the 22-year-old issued a rather intriguing response.
“You never know what happens, but first of all my focus is about the rest of the season,” Odegaard told TV2.
“Hopefully (I will) help the team, and then we’ll see what happens.”
According to DC, those comments haven’t gone down well with the Real Madrid bosses. They still believe that Odegaard has a huge future with Los Blancos and would not even consider a summer sale.
That may explain why they decided against including an option-to-buy clause in his Arsenal contract.
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