Arsenal are certainly getting their act together in this month's transfer window.

After terminating both Mesut Ozil and Sokratis Papastathopoulos' contracts, the Gunners are now recruiting well to improve the squad for the remainder of the 2020/21 season.

On Friday morning, the club announced the arrival of goalkeeper Mat Ryan from Brighton on loan, a smart deal given Runar Alex Runarsson's struggles since signing last summer.

Reports are also stating that Arsenal are close to getting another loan deal over the line, only this one is far more exciting.

Real Madrid's Martin Odegaard is said to have decided against returning to Real Sociedad and is instead heading to north London to join Mikel Arteta's side.

The Norwegian prodigy has struggled at Los Blancos this season under Zinedine Zidane, but that doesn't mean Arsenal fans shouldn't be excited about his impending arrival.

While on loan at Sociedad for the 2019/20 campaign, the 22-year-old - who famously made his professional debut at the age of 15 - was one of Europe's top performers.

In his 36 games in all competitions for the club, Odegaard netted seven goals and assisted a further nine.

He's a serious talent and with the £36m-rated playmaker in the squad, Arsenal's best starting XI looks capable of challenging for the top four positions in the Premier League this season.

At the time of writing, the Gunners are only seven points behind Liverpool in fourth...

Arsenal's best starting XI

XI: Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

An exciting, youthful trio of Saka, Odegaard and Martinelli behind an experienced, world-class striker in Aubameyang? That's certainly a recipe for success.

We felt bad omitting Emile Smith Rowe from the XI after his recent stellar displays for the north London club, but Odegaard performed to that standard for an entire season at Sociedad.

The rest of the XI speaks for itself really, with Partey and Xhaka undoubtedly the club's best option as a defensive midfield pairing behind the aforementioned attacking quartet.

Dare we say it's time to be cautiously optimistic about the rest of 2020/21, Arsenal fans?

It certainly looks that way and Spanish football expert Alvaro Montero's review of Odegaard will only add to the positivity surrounding the club right now.

"He's an extremely good player," Montero told Sky Sports News.

"If someone from Arsenal asked me what kind of player he is, I would say he's very similar to Mesut Ozil because he's left-footed, he plays extremely well between lines, between the strikers and the midfielders.

"Maybe he has even more goals than, for example, Mesut Ozil. But maybe he travels a little bit less.

"But he's an amazing player and I think he would be an amazing player for Arsenal, for Mikel Arteta for sure."