A young Real Madrid star who Arsenal are said to be following could now be about to follow in Martin Odegaard’s footsteps in his career.
Edu and his scouting team have the opportunity to keep tabs on several players they’ve said to be interested in at Euro 2024.
France’s Youssouf Fofana is one, a midfielder who is now playing a more significant role for Didier Deschamps.
Fofana has been linked with a cut-price move to Arsenal, perhaps representing a cost-effective option for the club later in the window.
And as well as Fofana, Arsenal have also been linked with two Real Madrid players at the tournament.
Ukraine’s Andriy Lunin is one, who actually made a mistake in the face of a long-range strike from Romania in his country’s 3-0 opening game defeat.
Fortunately, 19-year-old Arda Guler fared much better for Turkey, scoring a stunning goal to inspire a 3-1 win against Georgia.
Arsenal are said to be interested in signing Guler right now, but it seems he could be set for an alternative path.
Arsenal target Arda Guler could repeat Martin Odegaard’s loan move to Real Sociedad
Right now it would seem as if Real Madrid would be reluctant to sell Guler permanently, who they signed for £25m last summer.
But according to Sport in Spain, Madrid would consider allowing Guler to leave on loan.
And in that regard, Real Sociedad are thought to be the front-runners to take Guler on a temporary basis, a club trusted by Madrid.
Of course, it’s interesting to remember that Odegaard went on loan to Sociedad from Madrid shortly before he joined Arsenal.
The Norwegian enjoyed excellent progress at Sociedad, as Guler will hope to repeat should he make the move.
And without getting too far ahead of themselves, Arsenal fans may then wonder if they could steal in for a permanent move for Guler at a similar point to Odegaard – it’s certainly not unthinkable.
Odegaard was also once the gem of European football, only for Madrid to decide that they didn’t have a role for the midfielder, much to Arsenal’s gain.
Of course, if Arsenal are serious about their interest in Guler, they may still attempt to table a permanent offer this summer, which would look well advised judging by his Euro 2024 exploits.
All that being said, Gary Lineker has been seriously impressed by a change Kai Havertz has made at the Euros.