£80m Arsenal transfer now ‘very difficult’ after Gunners star instructs agent to ‘open’ Man Utd talks | OneFootball

Arsenal could reportedly find it “very difficult” to sell Martin Odegaard in the summer transfer window amid interest from Man Utd.

The Gunners spent over £250m in the summer transfer window in order to help Mikel Arteta build a side that can fight on all fronts.

And that’s exactly what Arsenal are doing with the Gunners currently nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, although second-placed Man City have a game in hand and play Arteta’s outfit at the Etihad Stadium next month.

Arsenal are also into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, face Man City in the final of the League Cup on Sunday and are into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

The Gunnners could win an unprecedented Quadruple this season but the Daily Telegraph recently reported that they will have to make one big sale in the summer after their big summer spend last year.

Odegaard is understood to be one of the players up for sale, as well as Gabriel Martinelli, but former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson can’t see them getting “a substantial profit” for the Norway international.

“Not because they’re not good players, just because the number of buyers for these sorts of players, the Odegaards, that you’re going to want let’s say £80m for.”

Borson added: “Who’s going to buy them?

“How many teams in the world these days have that money? Nobody in Italy, zero. Bayern Munich can only buy one or two players a year. But if they’re not interested, that’s the whole of Germany gone.

“PSG have moved what they try and do now away from that sort of player, so they’re probably out. Then you’ve got Real Madrid, and I very much doubt they’re going to buy Odegaard back.

“Barcelona have got no money, so there’s your universe of potential buyers because he’s not going to go to another Premier League team in my view. It’s all very well saying, ‘Well, we’re going to sell these players for big money’. It’s just not very simple to do.”

A report earlier this year claimed that Odegaard has told his agent to open talks with Man Utd as he looks for a way out of the Emirates Stadium.

‘Sources say promises made to him have been broken, with high tension reported between Ødegaard and Mikel Arteta in recent weeks. He is now 100% willing to leave the club.

‘Bayern Munich remains strongly committed to signing the playmaker, but Ødegaard’s priority is to stay in the Premier League. It would take an exceptional offer to convince him to choose the Bundesliga giants over Manchester United. More to follow soon!’