It's not so long ago that Arsenal were crying out for a bit of creativity in their midfield. As Boxing Day of 2020 approached the Gunners sat 15th in the Premier League having failed to win in seven matches and having scored fewer goals than every team in the division bar Sheffield United, West Brom and Burnley.
Luckily though the arrival of Emile Smith Rowe into the side helped spearhead a revival that begun with a 3-1 home victory over Frank Lampard's Chelsea side. Things instantly began to improve, but there was still an acceptance that more was needed in the squad to fashion chances for the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, particularly when Mesut Ozil left the club to join Fenerbahce.
As a result, when the January transfer window came along there were plenty of creative players linked with a move to the Emirates. Among them were Lyon's Houssem Aouar and Isco of Real Madrid, but the two names mentioned most heavily were those of Philippe Coutinho and Martin Odegaard.
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In the end the Gunners opted for the Norwegian, but given the links between Coutinho's agent Kia Joorabchian and Arsenal technical director Edu at the time, it did seem for a while that a move for the Brazilian might be a real possibility. Instead though he ended up staying with Barcelona.
However, when Odegaard returned to Real Madrid following his loan spell, a familiar crossroads appeared at the Emirates. An attempt to sign Emi Buendia from Norwich early in the transfer window proved unsuccessful and as the season began to approach quickly it appeared that once again there was a decision to be made between Coutinho and Odegaard.
Reports at the time suggested that the former Liverpool man was open to the idea of a move to north London as he looked to reignite his career following a tough time at the Nou Camp and an underwhelming loan spell with Bayern Munich. However, concerns over Coutinho's injury history would ultimately scupper the move. He had had surgery on an injury in April of that year and according to Le10Sport this had put the Gunners off.
They instead ended up going back to Madrid to ensure the signing of Odegaard on a permanent basis for a fee reported to be around £33m. The transfer has proved to be an almost unequivocal success so far. While the Norwegian was spurned a big opportunity against Liverpool on Wednesday night he has been metronomic in the Arsenal attack, proving crucial to a run of form that has seen them win eight out of their last 11 matches in the Premier League.
The move has worked out so well that Mikel Arteta was asked if Odegaard could now be considered a bargain given the price the Gunners paid for him, although the Spaniard was a little hesitant to jump to that conclusion just yet. "I don’t know, it’s still a little bit early to say that," he said after the 2-0 victory over Leicester. "We were certainly convinced that was a player who could fit in our club, in our model, that has every value that we want from the players to represent this club and then that has the qualities to do what we want to do. We are really happy with him."
Coutinho meanwhile has ended up at Aston Villa where he has the chance to secure a permanent move from Barcelona this summer. Having previously shown admiration for Arsenal it is fascinating to think what might have been. The two sides face off against each other this Saturday, and the battle between Coutinho and Odegaard could prove essential in deciding a game that has the potential to be crucial in the Gunners' Champions League chase.
