Martin Ødegaard.
Remember that name?
Back in 2014, aged 15 years-old, he was hailed as one of the brightest young prospects and described as a player of world class potential. At such a tender age, he had become the youngest player to both feature and score in the Norwegian top-flight.
Blessed with a blend of rich skill sets and technical abilities. It was his extroadinary talents that set him apart from the rest in the Stromsgodset side and gave him the dream opportunities to train with clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. With all of them potential suitors for his signature, it was Real Madrid who snapped him up once he turned 16 – a fee which could potentially rise to just £7.5million. The Norwegian wonderkid described the move as a dream come true for both himself and his family, and would go on to make his first team debut coming on as a second-half substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo in a thrilling 7-3 victory over Getafe.
However, it hasn’t been all roses since then for the youngster. Ødegaard has yet to make another appearance for Real Madrid. Since then, he has largely been a forgotten man at the Santiago Bernabeu, being farmed out to dutch outfit SC Heerenveen in 2017, then on loan to Vitesse in which, however, he enjoyed two very fruitful loan spells.
Though, it has been enough for him to break into the Real Madrid team. The expectations at the club was that the player would just become another one of those unfortunate Real Madrid flops. Carlo Ancelotti, who was manager at the time of Ødegaard’s arrival, compounded the idea that the player could become another Real Madrid failed statistic:
When [Real Madrid President] Florentino [Perez] buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it,”
“Furthermore, he decided that he would play three games with the first team as a public relations exercise. He could be the best player in the world, but I don’t care because he was not a player who I asked for. That signing was to do with PR.”
Not how you would want to be remembered as a Real Madrid player.
However, those comments haven’t affected Ødegaard at all and it his determination and fight to force his name on everyone’s lips once again. The Norwegian has refused to just become another PR excuse and Ancelotti may just be eating his words right now.
After an impressive loan spell at Vitesse, in the Dutch top-flight – scoring 11 goals and laying on 12 assists in 39 games – Ødegaard is now lighting up La Liga and has become Real Madrid’s best player this season… and he hasn’t even kicked a ball for the European champions yet. The Norwegian maestro is gracing his talents at Real Sociedad who have become, so far this season, one of the most exciting outfits in European football so far this season.
Ødegaard has been at the centre of Sociedad’s rise up the La Liga table.
Ødegaard still holds dreams of one day playing for one of the greatest clubs in history:
‘My goal is still to play for Real Madrid. That’s why I signed for them, because I want to play there some day. I feel like I’ve improved a lot in the last two years. I think I’m a better player and I’m more mature, older and a little stronger physically. I feel better now than when I first came to Spain.”
The way the Norwegian has started the season at Sociedad, he may be gracing the Santiago Bernabeu sooner than expected. Ødegaard has been scintilating to watch, and is the main reason for Sociedad’s stylish displays under former player and current coach Imanol Alguacil. The Basque country based club currently find themselves second in La Liga trailing Ødegaard’s parent club Real Madrid by a single point after 6 games.
Playing on the right of a midfield three for Alguacil, the Norwegian has been deployed as something of a roaming playmaker. A component which is described as a teams main creative threat in midfield, blessed with incredible skill, technical brilliance, vision, passing, movement and also carries the whole side when weaving through the lines between the oppositions defence and midfield and also when on the counter-attack. If you need any evidence of his brilliance then check out his assist for Mikel Oyarzabal’s first goal against Alaves during the week. It was simply outstanding.
PLEASE, CLICK THE ABOVE LINK..
It was as if Ødegaard held a protractor, seamlessly trying to dissect which angle he would so unerringly caress a through pass for Oyarzabal to get on the end of. Like something out of Kevin De Bruyne’s magic book. Not only was the pass so precise but it was the piece of skill that came before it, the young maestro didn’t even sweat as he so easily nutmegged his marker to create space.
It was absolutely majestic.
The contrast between the youngster who joined from Stromsgodset and was later farmed out to Heerenveen and Vitesse could not be more stark. At 16 he looked every bit a ‘YouTube footballer’ as you would call it, a skillful number 10 with an impressive repoitre of tricks and flicks, someone who could capture the imagination of his contemporaries on the internet.
Now, Ødegaard looks the complete midfielder. Much has been made of Real Madrid’s pursuit of Paul Pogba from Manchester United, a dream galactico signing constantly being pondered on by Zidane who is believed to be a huge fan of the French superstar. The question is, why go and spend 200-odd million on Pogba when you’ve got a remarkably gifted talent waiting in the wings, lighting up La Liga at present.
What’s also impressive of the Norwegian wonderkid is his relentless energy and work-ethic which has been expertly harnessed so far in Sociedad’s pressing intensity. As soon as they loose the ball, they hustle and harry to win it back as quickly as possible and Ødegaard has mastered those traits to devastating effect. Ødegaard is massively intelligent and is a player who can only get better, which is scary. It seems as though the player has been around for a while, and indeed he has. Yet, he’s only 20 years of age.
Ødegaard has a two-year loan deal at Real Sociedad and has shown incredible commitment to the clubs cause, which is evident in his purchase of a house in the region of Sociedad. That sort of commitment has made him increasingly popular with his team-mates and the club fans but its his displays that have got the whole club believing they could make an unprecedented return into the Champions League in the near future. The player must take huge credit for his attitude, not allowing the early experiences to unsettle his career, nor allowing himself to get lost in the loan flux that he has been plagued with. Though, those loans have proved a blessing in disguise and his experiences in Holland have served to toughen him up.
Being back in La Liga has given Ødegaard an extra incentive to impress his parent club. Nothing he does this season will be hidden away from Real Madrid who will surely be keeping an eye on his development. Like the pass he made against Alaves – an assist that you can play over and over again – every bit of magic Ødegaard conjures up this season will be made viral in Spain where he is still desperate to be a success at Real Madrid.
If he continues to play like he is currently, then it will be impossible for Florentino Perez and Zinedine Zidane to ignore his array of talents. Whether the Norwegian can prove both of them he is good enough to become a leader of the Real Madrid pack, will be up to him.
For now, this is a player currently deemed as the best in the league so far. With a whole host of talents around him, that is some high praise.
Martin Ødegaard surely is no longer the forgotten man.
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