By Ian Palmer
Spanish giants Real Madrid have just completed the signing of 16-year-old Norwegian attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard. The youngster’s name is well known to soccer fans as Odegaard holds the record for being the youngest player in history to participate in the qualifying stages of the European Championships. The Odegaard name was also a familiar one in Norway from 1993 to 2003 when his father Hans Erik played in then midfield for the Stromsgodset club. The younger Odegaard also got his start with Stromsgodset and played his first senior game with them at the tender age of 13, which is still the team record for youngest-ever player.
Soccer Betting lines currently list Real Madrid at 1/3 to win the Spanish League and are 11/4 to retain the European Champions League crown.
He soon signed a professional contract and found himself being selected for Norway’s national senior squad before he was chosen for the country’s Under-21 team. He played in Norway’s 2-1 win against Bulgaria last October in a Euro 2016 qualifying match when he was 15 years and 300 days old, to set another record. Since then he’s been on the radar of several top European clubs who were all eager to sign him. These included Liverpool of the English Premier League, reigning German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Scottish Premier League kings Celtic, and Real Madrid, the current European Champions League titleholders. In fact any team in the world would have jumped at the chance of signing Odegaard if given the opportunity.
However, Real Madrid won the race to secure his signature on a contract when they announced his signing on January 22. Pro scouts list the youngster’s major strengths as his ball control, acceleration, passing, dribbling skills, decision-making abilities, maturity level, skilled with both feet, and mental toughness. They point out that his weaknesses are his defensive diligence and current physical stature. The experts believe Odegaard is excellent at shielding the ball in tight spaces and is quite unpredictable, making it hard for the opposition to defend against him.
Odegaard is in for a bit of a culture shock on the pitch with Madrid though since he’ll also have to concentrate on his defensive duties after being given total freedom to attack in Norway. It’s expected that Odegaard will play with Real Madrid Castilla in the Spanish La Liga’s third-tier Segunda B division while he learns the ropes and the club’s system. Since Madrid’s squad is so strong and deep there’s no reason to believe they’ll rush the development of Odegaard and it could be a couple of years before fans see him make his debut for the senior side. Odegaard had five goals in 23 games for Stromsgodset, but has yet to score for Norway in three senior appearances.
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