Jurgen Klopp Speaks On Interest, Attempts To Sign Arsenal Captain Odegaard

Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp has opened up on how he has kept a close eye on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.

Infoexpert24 understands that the Norway international had attracted interest from several top clubs across Europe as a teenager and ended up joining Real Madrid at the age of 16 in 2015.

Odegaard struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular at Madrid and ended up joining Arsenal on a permanent deal following an impressive loan spell with Mikel Arteta’s side.

Odegaard is now one of Arsenal’s star performers and Klopp insists he’s ‘really happy’ for the midfielder’s progression.

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Martin Odegaard has impressed in the Gunners’ new-look side and, ahead of this weekend’s meeting, Klopp has opened up on his attempt to sign the midfielder at Borussia Dortmund.

“I really like him,” he told TV2. “It’s easy these days. It was a bit more difficult at the start of his career when he was at Real Madrid. Then it looked like it might not go his way.

“I was really disappointed by that because we wanted him in Dortmund when he was very young. We had a long conversation when he was still a boy, together with his father. In the end, he decided on Madrid, and that’s fine, but that’s why I’ve always followed him.”

Klopp believes Odegaard has begun to fulfill his early potential after a difficult period at Real Madrid, praising the ‘massive role’ the midfielder plays for this weekend’s opposition.

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“You can only imagine how many talents, huge talents, crazy talents, I have seen over the course of quite a while in this industry. At the time, Martin was 15 years old and already playing in Norway. The whole world went berserk.

“Until he was 15, he probably experienced no hardship. After that, a lot of things went against him. It makes him the person he is now, the man he is now, and the player he is now. I’m really happy that he has now become the player we all expected him to become. In fact, even better than that, if you will.

“He plays a massive role in an incredibly strong Arsenal team.”

Liverpool takes on Arsenal in the Premier League this weekend with the Reds traveling to face the league leaders at the Emirates.