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It seems almost impossible to believe that Martin Ødegaard is just 20 years old. The wonderkid made waves back in 2015 when he was signed by Real Madrid at the tender age of 15, for €4 million.
Los Blancos announced that he would be training with both the Real Madrid first team, and the reserves (Real Madrid Castilla). The latter was managed by Zinedine Zidane at the time, and it was a testament to the ability of the then-teenager that he had been scouted by one of the biggest clubs in the world.
However, things were not as rosy for Ødegaard when he joined the club. His tale is not one wherein he travelled from point A to point B - point A being his former club Strømsgodset Toppfotball, and point B being glory at Real Madrid. No, the Norweigian international’s route has been one filled with challenges, one filled with twists and turns that have made him the player he is today. Still yet to feature consistently for Real Madrid, the attacking midfielder has been across a few clubs in Europe, and he is now showing signs of his full potential. Currently, the 20-year-old is playing for Real Sociedad, and it will not be long before he becomes a permanent name in the Real Madrid set-up.
The journey to Madrid
It was Ronny Deila, a former Norwegian footballer who first saw the potential in Ødegaard, back when the player was 14. Deila was the manager of Strømsgodset at the time, and he could see the talent that one of his players possessed. Next season, Deila inserted the then-15-year-old into the midfield of his team and made him operate as a free-roaming midfielder. Within a few weeks, the teenager was the central figure for one of Norway’s first division teams, and he was blowing people away with his skill set. Not one senior complained for they saw how good the kid was.
In an interview with Kiyan Sobhani of ManagingMadrid, Deila says he knew Ødegaard was special the first time he saw him play. He had no hesitation in giving him a vital role in the team. When the two first met, Ødegaard was on a semi-professional contract, meaning he was only eligible to play up to three games with the senior side. He had to attend his compulsory education, and his training time was limited.
In 2014, he joined the senior side officially. He made 25 appearances for the first team that season, and he was far ahead of everyone on the field whenever he played. The midfielder was known for his vision, passing, and dribbling skills, and he danced around defenders twice his size while leaving them in the dust. He holds the record of being the youngest player to appear, and score in a Tippeligaen (Norway’s first division) game.
News of Ødegaard’s ability reached the Spanish capital, and Real Madrid decided to waste no time in buying the teenager. In May 2015 he became Madrid’s youngest-ever debutant (16 years and 157 days) when replacing Cristiano Ronaldo in a La Liga game against Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu. However, his senior appearances were limited because the Madrid team was star-studded and vying for Europe’s top prize.
The pressure of performing at the age of 16 for a club such as Real Madrid is immense. There were a lot of stories circulating about Ødegaard’s behaviour, but Castilla was not in a good position at the time. Zidane was not making headlines as he would be in the future, and it was being reported that the midfielder's wages (which were £80,000 a week) were causing jealousy in the team. The teenager lost some of his game, and he gained some critics who were now comparing him not to Lionel Messi, but Federico Macheda. A loan move was what was best for the player at the time. The Norwegian international made 62 appearances for Real Madrid Castilla, before embarking on his first loan spell at Dutch club SC Heerenveen.
Back when the teenager was receiving so much attention, Ødegaard had this to say:
"If you get carried away now, you won't get far in 10 years. I'm supposed to be at my best then, not now. That I know.”
It is this mentality that has made him the player he is today.
Development and progress
It was a rough start for the youngster in the Netherlands, as he suffered an ankle injury and could not become a first-team starter till the 2017/18 season. At Heerenveen, the talent that the kid had was clear for all to see. He had a great first touch, he could dribble the ball better than most players around him, and he had the vision of his hawk and could pass the ball with great accuracy. Despite all this, Ødegaard finished his first full Eredivisie season with two goals and one assist. How could such a talented player create so little?
By this point, many had written the teenager off as just another kid who had talent, but who would never be great. However, we all know that football goes deeper than simple statistics such as goals and assists. What the sceptics failed to notice, is that Ødegaard underperformed his xA (expected assists) in all of his time with Heerenveen. Even if you put prime Mesut Ozil in a club with finishers who underperformed their xG (expected goals), he would find it difficult to rack up the stat sheet. The then-teenager did not let the criticism get to him, for he knew that he was finally finding his game.
A loan move to another Eredivisie club beckoned when the midfielder moved to Vitesse in 2018. He was now aged 18, and his game was developing. After his loan at Heerenveen, Ødegaard knew that he needed to be a bit more clinical, a bit more aggressive to improve his overall gameplay. He was practising his shooting, he was focusing more on making the final pass. The goal was to become more direct and decisive as he controlled the tempo of the game.
At Vitesse, the Real Madrid's youngest ever player became a regular starter and his game started to flourish.
Playing as a right midfielder in a dynamic system where he could showcase his skills, Ødegaard did everything he had set his mind to - his assists and goals increased, and he was starting to enjoy himself on the field. In the 2018/19 season, the midfielder racked up 9 goals and 12 assists in 35 league games. He scored two more goals in cup games, and Vitesse finished 5th in the league that season. Due to his impressive performances, Ødegaard made the Eredivisie Team of the Season for the season - he was the only non-PSV Eindhoven or Ajax player to make that team.
What made the creative youngster excel at Vitesse was not only his training and mentality but the fact that coach Leonid Slutsky granted him the freedom to operate more centrally and get into dangerous positions in the final third. His xA for that season (per 90 minutes) was 0.34, which was the fourth-highest for that season in the Dutch top division. From the above image, you can see that his defensive and dribbling numbers are also elite, while he rarely turns the ball over.
At just the age of 18, Ødegaard had proven that not only was he as good as he was originally billed to be, but that he was ready for a stronger league which would truly test his mettle. Real Madrid brought him back to Spain, but the Los Blancos want to see him perform in La Liga outside of their team. As a result, currently, the midfielder is plying his trade for Real Sociedad. Real Madrid retained the option to recall the player or extend the loan for an additional season after the first year; the way the Norweigian is playing though, it is more likely that the club opts for the latter.
So far this season, Ødegaard’s best performance has come in a 2-0 home win against Atletico Madrid, where he scored one goal and assisted the other. He was selected as the man of the match for that impressive performance, and he has not stopped since then. The primary function for the player right now is to act as a playmaker. Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil has instructed his player to control the tempo of the game, organise the attacks, and make the final pass.
The youngster has a killer left-foot and is as such drawing comparisons to the game’s greats yet again - Lionel Messi, David Silva, etc. However, his former coach Deila believes that Christian Eriksen is the perfect comparison at this point.
“He’s a very tall gentleman. He gets goals and moves a lot. Fantastic left foot. I think he’s a guy that you can compare him to.”
The coach is yet to take Ødegaard off from any game, and he has played every minute of La Liga football so far this season. The youngster has impressed so much, that he was officially named the La Liga Player of the Month for September. This promising start to the La Liga season has ensured Real Madrid that their player is on the right track, and recently, the club extended his contract to 2023.
Since his first loan move began over two and a half years ago, the youngster has grown leaps and bounds. He has grown physically, added defensive work rate to his game, and he plays with the composure and intellect of a veteran. It was not so long ago that the wonder-kid was being called a “flop” and a “disaster”, but his hard work and patience has made all his critics look foolish. Amazingly, Martin Ødegaard will be turning 21 this December, and his best is yet to come. With Luka Modric slowing down and Madrid still entering a new era post the departure of Ronaldo, Ødegaard could well be their star for the next decade if he continues to perform like he has been performing this season.
