As Norwegian wonderkid Martin Odegaard was revealed to the Spanish press in the Real Madrid press room, the topic of whether this promising teenager could prove his hype at an elite level remained taboo.
The 16-year-old gained a huge online following in 2014 after his blessed feet were seen running Tippiligaen – the top-tier of Norwegian football – defenders ragged, as he donned the jersey of his home club Stromsgodset.
But instead of scribbling in textbooks Odegaard was focused on writing his name in the record books – he became Norway’s youngest ever player aged 15 years 235 days. Now the age of a first-year sixth former, adolescence hasn’t restricted the technically-gifted playmaker from attracting the interest of Europe’s elite clubs such as Real Madrid, Ajax and Manchester United.
Yet now the 16-year-old dubbed the original title of ‘The Norwegian Messi’ faces the toughest task in football: playing for the Real Madrid first team having not been bought for over £50m.
It was established at the press conference confirming his move to Madrid that Odegaard will train with the first-team for the rest of the season, yet play for Castilla – Real Madrid’s B-team which plays in the third-tier of Spanish football.
Even though training with Bale may affect his passing ability, there is no doubt that training with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric et al will largely benefit Odegaard’s development as a player and character.
But the question with a club like Real Madrid is: Will he play regularly for the first team? There’s no doubt that the best way for a player to develop is by playing regularly for the senior squad - Jay Rodriguez, Ross Barkley, Jon Stones and Raheem Sterling are perfect examples of young talents who have overseen their development in a top European league.
As an attacking playmaker with effervescent natural ability, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is sure to let Odegaard flourish where his innate talent for the game is best displayed: attacking midfield. Currently employing a 4-3-3 formation with two-holding midfielders in Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, this leaves only one attacking-midfield role available.
So who are the competitors for Odegaard – the teenager who has only 23 appearances in Norway’s top division to his name? Isco and James Rodriguez. The former, a 23-year-old who has been compared to Zinedine Zidane by Ancelotti; the latter, the Puskas-winning, stand-out player of the 2014 Brazil World Cup, respectively.
Of course, Ancelotti can adapt the team’s formation of using one attacking midfielder to using two, in order to accommodate the plethora of talent in that area, but the prospect of offloading one of the two aforementioned players just to foster the development of a 16-year-old seems unlikely.
The reality is that Odegaard will most probably be a bit-part player for Madrid in the approaching years, as the club’s ethos of spending large sums of money on big-name, trendy signings that go straight into the first team is as rooted in their DNA like the writing inside a Blackpool rock.
When Odegaard first steps foot on matchday turf in the Bernabeau, Norwegians will doubtless reminiscently overlook his progress from a scruffy-haired kid, playing in the chilling frost of the Tippiligaen, to the young adult that is now playing amidst the warm, boulevard-lavished Madrid. When the opportunity comes, he better not get cold feet.
Words - @_AdamPowers
Source: DSG
