Arsenal Open Door for Odegaard Exit While Drawing Line Under Calafiori

The summer window at Arsenal could yet deliver some surprise departures, with Martin Odegaard heading a list of seven first-team regulars potentially available for the right offer.

Fresh off winning the Premier League title last month—their first in 22 years under Mikel Arteta—and following a Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, the Gunners are plotting their next move upwards. Yet one of their most trusted performers may find himself surplus to requirements.

Odegaard's campaign fell well short of previous standards. The skipper managed just one goal and six assists in the league, a stark contrast to his 2023/24 haul of 18 goal contributions. That dip in output has sparked genuine speculation about his future.

According to BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel, there's genuine chatter around the club that Odegaard could depart if the price hits the mark. "There have been some whispers over the summer that Arsenal might be interested in letting Martin Ødegaard go for the right price," Mokbel reports.

The valuation sits at €95m (£82m), a figure Arsenal won't budge below. Bayern Munich and PSG are understood to be monitoring the situation, though whether either will meet those demands remains to be seen. Odegaard still has two years remaining on his contract.

Former Arsenal man Paul Merson reckons there'd be no shortage of suitors. "It's madness for me to be saying this, but they probably will be thinking about that," Merson told The Sports Agents. "But for me, I still think there'll be teams queuing round the block for him. When you play in the position that Odegaard plays in, you're screaming out for pace up front. You have to have pace."

The midfielder's exit prospects have intensified with the arrival of Eberechi Eze. ESPN's Steve Nicol suggested Odegaard might struggle for minutes: "If you're Martin Odegaard, do you stick around? I don't think you do."

Frank Leboeuf, the Chelsea legend, agreed with that assessment. "I've always liked Martin Odegaard and the way he plays because he's very elegant, but he's not influential anymore. He's there to start the action, to distribute the ball horizontally. But with Eze right now the moves are not the same, he's more vertical, more influential and he's going to help Viktor Gyokeres too."

While Odegaard may be heading for the exit, there's absolutely no chance of Riccardo Calafiori following suit. Arsenal's stance on their former Bologna defender is unequivocal.

Real Madrid and various Serie A clubs have been linked with the left-back, but the Gunners have made their position crystal clear. Calafiori is viewed as central to Arteta's project and won't be sold unless someone stumps up a genuinely extraordinary fee.

"Calafiori isn't formally unsellable, but to open negotiations, an off-market offer in the region of three figures would be needed," reports suggest. "Only an offer exceeding €100 million could persuade the London club to consider a sale."

In other words: don't bother ringing.