Arsenal to repeat Odegaard trick with Real Madrid star forced out by Mbappe

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 16 Mar 2024 09:58 GMT
• 11 min read

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is advancing with his side’s summer transfer plans and is seeking to replicate the success the club had when signing Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid.

Odegaard arrived at Arsenal initially on loan from Los Blancos in 2021 but proved such a hit that the Emirates club decided to retain him permanently. He is now captaining a Gunners team chasing a first Premier League title in 20 years.

Now Arteta is ready to revisit the Bernabeu, according to Spanish publication El Nacional, to make a raid for attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz.

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The report states that Arsenal have already made an offer worth €70 million for the 24-year-old, who recently pledged his international allegiance to Morocco.

Diaz has played 32 times for Real Madrid this season, including 18 starts. He has eight goals and four assists to his credit.

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According to data analytics experts SciSports, he has been one of the best-performing wingers in the whole of LaLiga. Unfortunately for him, three of the four players clear of him in this regard also turn out for Real Madrid: Jude Bellingham, Fede Valverde and Vinicius Junior. Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe is due to arrive in the summer.

Diaz’s opportunities to play first-team football are, therefore, likely to be restricted next season, regardless of his current good form.

For that reason, president Florentino Perez could elect to sell, particularly at the price that Arsenal are allegedly offering.

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Diaz vs LaLiga wingers: 2023/24

Diaz has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €29.5m – well below what Nacional reports the Gunners to have offered the Spanish league leaders.

Arteta, meanwhile, is well aware of Diaz’s talents. He was an assistant coach at Manchester City as the attacking midfielder was coming through the ranks there.

The attacking midfield area is just one sector that Arsenal are seeking to improve during the summer transfer window, with FootballTransfers previously revealing that the Gunners have made Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres their main target in attack.