Arsenal could still bring Martin Odegaard back to the Emirates Stadium this month...

What's the word?

That's according to renowned Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who delivered a fresh update on the Gunners' no.10 search to Twitter earlier in the week.

The Norwegian playmaker excelled during a temporary stint in North London last season and it appears that hope of re-signing him isn't completely out of the reals of possibility.

"Arsenal are still keeping an eye on Martin Ødegaard. He’s always been the main target as number 10 - if he decides to leave Real and Real decides to sell him, Arsenal will bid for Ødegaard," Romano said.

"Arsenal would be ready to try also for a permanent move... but it’s up to Real."

Fans would love it

The Gunners are crying out for a new attacking midfielder to pull the strings in behind the centre-forward but their attempts thus far have failed to garner much success.

Leicester City star James Maddison, who won the Community Shield against Premier League champions Manchester City over the weekend, is thought to be one of Mikel Arteta's major targets.

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However, the FA Cup winners value him at a whopping £60m, which may well be outside of their budget at the minute, with the likes of Granit Xhaka, Hector Bellerin and Willian still at the club, meaning there have been little finances raised to bring in further additions.

As Romano claims, it seems as if a return for Odegaard would be the no.1 priority for the North London giants and that would be something that the Emirates faithful would love to see.

The £36m-rated dynamo provided two goals and two assists across 20 appearances, averaging a direct contribution every 216 minutes.

On the face of it, that's less than impressive but he ranked top for key passes per game in the Premier League, proving to be one of Arteta's most creative outlets, as per WhoScored.

Many supporters have been pleading with Odegaard to return to England to feature for the club, as relayed by SPORTbible, so this latest development should leave them absolutely buzzing.

With three weeks until the end of the transfer window, only time will tell whether the 22-year-old will be back in a red shirt for the coming season.

AND in other news, Edu could sign Arsenal's next Samir Nasri in "magical" £34m-rated "special talent"...