Martin Odegaard has been strongly linked with a loan move to Arsenal, but Gunners boss Mikel Arteta refused to give anything away after he saw his side lose 1-0 to Southampton in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Real Madrid midfielder has asked Zinedine Zidane if he can leave the club this month in order to get more game time elsewhere, and Arsenal have jumped ahead of Real Sociedad in the race to sign the 22-year-old on loan.
“I don’t know. Obviously we played today, so since last night I don’t have any news,” Arteta confirmed in Saturday’s post-match press conference.
“Probably, I will get a few phone calls today and see where we are with every deal.”
Arteta was then quizzed on whether Odegaard’s arrival at the Emirates Stadium may hinder Emile Smith-Rowe’s development, but he did not want to discuss the Norwegian at length.
“I cannot talk about any player who is not ours,” he said.
“We have a very clear idea of how we want our players to develop and what they need to do that.
“All the decision we make are just to reinforce their development and try to give them the best possible chance.”
Zidane’s assistant, David Bettoni, did not give much away when asked about Odegaard during Real Madrid’s pre-match press conference on Friday.
Arsenal already have one Real Madrid midfielder at the club in Dani Ceballos.
