Arsenal confirmed the signature of Odegaard on a permanent deal from Real Madrid this morning for a reported fee in excess of £30m.
The Norwegian spent the latter half of last season on loan at Arsenal and Mikel Arteta was clear about getting him back to the Emirates on a permanent contract.
Parlour feels Odegaard clearly has unfulfilled potential and feels given the state of the market, it is a good deal for Arsenal, especially because their other target James Maddison looked out of reach.
The former Gunner said on talkSPORT: “He was a wonderkid when he went to Real Madrid and probably potentially he hasn’t got to where he should be.
“They were desperate for a number 10 and he was the one available.
“Maddison was the one they probably wanted, but maybe Leicester didn’t want to sell him because they are trying to get into that top four or maybe it might have been too much money.
“So Odegaard, for the money, in the transfer market at the moment is not a bad deal.”
Odegaard scored just once in the Premier League during his loan stint at Arsenal last season.
Parlour stressed that he needs to work on that area of his game as he believes that the team’s number 10 needs to be scoring more goals.
“What he has got to improve on is goals.
“He had 14 league games last season and he scored one goal. His numbers have got to be a little bit better when you are playing in that position.”
