Exclusive: Arsenal decide on Martin Odegaard, Ben White as next two stars in line for new contracts

Martin Odegaard and Ben White are the next two Arsenal stars who will be offered new contracts by the club, according to Charles Watts.

Arsenal have worked hard to tie down some of their most important players to fresh terms in recent months. Arguably the most important of those was winger Bukayo Saka, who was briefly linked with Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.

But Saka pledged his future to Arsenal in May by agreeing a new four-year deal worth around £200,000 a week. It could rise to £300k per week depending on performance-related bonuses.

And now, Arsenal want to sort out new contracts for Saka’s team-mates Odegaard and White to hand them pay rises and reward them for their great performances under Mikel Arteta. Odegaard’s current contract runs until 2025, while White’s current deal expires in 2026.

Watts told TEAMtalk: “They put so much emphasis on getting those contracts sorted. In the last year, they’ve had Gabriel, [Aaron] Ramsdale, [Gabriel] Martinelli, Saka and [William] Saliba. They’ve done amazing work in terms of getting all those really, really key players tied down.

“Ben White and Martin Odegaard will be the next two. And I’m sure that will happen – that those two will get signed up. Those will certainly be the two priorities now.

“I don’t really have any concerns that those two are going to become any sort of sagas, I think it’ll both get signed up, and they’ll both extend. And that’s it.

Arsenal prevent vultures from ‘circling’

“Again, it’s just showing where Arsenal are as a club right now, and the work that they’ve done, that they can get these players, when in the past, they would have lost at least one or two of them. The vultures would have circled and would have taken a couple of them away.

“But now those players want to stay, they see their futures at Arsenal, they think they can achieve their ambitions at Arsenal, and they want to be part of the project. All those players have signed on. And I fully expect Martin Odegaard and Ben White to follow pretty soon.”

Watts has also provided TEAMtalk with an exclusive update on the future of an Arsenal outcast whose agent is actively seeking a transfer for his client.