On Wednesday, Arsenal confirmed to have completed the loan signing of Martin Ødegaard from Real Madrid.
The midfielder will be at the Emirates until the end of the season and the Gunners will not have an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer.
Two days ago, we carried a report from AS, which explained Mikel Arteta’s side will pay a loan fee of €2m and take care of the Norway international’s full salary during his temporary stay in the English capital.
This was also covered by The Times last weekend. They stated the overall cost of the operation will cost the north London club around £2.5m and this covers a loan fee of £1.8m plus his £38k per week wages.
VG have looked at The Times report and state the salary figures doesn’t correspond to the information they have gathered. According to them, the 22-year-old is receiving much higher wages than what’s been reported elsewhere.
Several ‘independent sources’ have informed the outlet the overall cost of the deal will be around 40 million kroner (£3.4m). This includes the loan fee plus Ødegaard’s salary. The figure will be ‘significantly higher’ if potential payment in bonuses are taken into account.
VG explain the player, ‘through the agency Nordic Sky, with Bjørn Tore Kvarme at the helm’, is said to have negotiated a new salary that will be applicable during his loan stay in London.
These negotiations delayed the official announcement and, in the end, as per VG, Ødegaard is said to have landed a deal that will see him earn £100k per week, which is in excess of one million kroner per week.
Multiple reports state the player was in London since last weekend, but the deal was only announced on Wednesday. It’s claimed the salary negotiations delayed his transfer being made official.
VG also provides a link to Sportac, which provide details of reported earnings of Arsenal players.
The Norwegian websites then adds, ‘If Ødegaard had been at the salary level reported by The Times, he would have been on a par with the agreement the academy product Ainsley Maitland-Niles signed two and a half years ago, and half the salary of defender Cédric Soares, who was taken from Southampton last year.’
‘Such a salary level would not be proportional to such a high-profile signing as Ødegaard, who comes from the big club Real Madrid and gets prestigious kit number 11, which is worn by stars like Robin van Persie and Marc Overmars.’
If VG’s report is to be believed, Ødegaard will earn (£100,000) more than double in wages at Arsenal than what he was earning (£38,000) at Real Madrid.
