Arsenal sign Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid and Sheffield United’s Aaron Ramsdale

BBC
BBC
Martin Odegaard will wear the number eight shirt for Arsenal

Arsenal have signed Real Madrid midfielder Martin Odegaard and Sheffield United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Norway international Odegaard, 22, joined the Gunners on loan in January and has made the move permanent for about £30m.

The deal for Ramsdale, 23, is worth £24m plus a further £6m in add-ons.

He is available for the visit of Chelsea on Sunday, but Odegaard misses out as he waits for his visa clearance.

The former Bournemouth man, who made 38 Premier League appearances for the Blades last season before being included in England’s squad for Euro 2020, will join Bernd Leno and Runar Alex Runarsson as Arsenal’s goalkeepers.

His signing was announced by the Gunners after Friday’s earlier confirmation of Odegaard joining the club.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said: “Aaron is a talented young keeper with huge experience and has international experience for England. He will bring competition and that’s what we want to create – healthy competition, quality competition in every position. We identified Aaron as the ideal option.”

Ramsdale and Odegaard, who has signed a four-year deal with the option of an extra year, join Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares as Arsenal’s signings this summer.

Asked what Odegaard would add to his squad, Arteta added: “A lot of things that he brought last season – he made us better, we needed more options and alternatives for creativity.

“He is still a really young man but he has huge experiences in clubs already and has unique talents for the way we want to play, so I am really pleased the club have made the effort.”

The Norwegian joined Real Madrid from Stromsgodset in 2015 but only made eight league appearances for the Spanish side. He also spent time on loan at Heerenveen, Vitesse and Real Sociedad.

Arteta had made it clear at the end of last season that he wanted Odegaard to return to the Emirates on a permanent basis, and has since spoken about wanting to add more new signings to his squad before the transfer window closes on 31 August.

Share This Article