Martin Odegaard is an attacking midfielder who plays for Arsenal Club and the Norwegian national team. Born on December 17, 1998, in Drammen, Norway, Odegaard began his football journey as a child, with outstanding talent compared to his peers.
Odegaard joined local club Drammen Strong at the age of four. At the age of 8, he joined Stromsgodset Academy, a Norwegian professional football club.
Odegaard made his first team debut for Stromsgodset at the age of 15, becoming the youngest player ever to play in the Norwegian National League.
Odegaard’s performance quickly attracted the attention of major European clubs. In January 2015, he joined Real Madrid at the age of 16. Odegaard is expected to become one of the best players in the world.
Even though he is a prodigy, Odegaard still faces many difficulties at Real Madrid. He could not compete with the experienced stars at the Bernabeu and was loaned to many clubs such as Heerenveen, Vitesse (Netherlands) or Real Sociedad (Spain). During his time with Real Sociedad, Odegaard really caught up with the top football environment and shined. He played an important role in helping the club win tickets to the Europa League and was honored as the team’s “Best Player of the Season”.
Odegaard is a skillful and sophisticated attacking midfielder. His forte is holding the ball, good vision and knowing how to throw passes at the right address. Odegaard also has impressive dribbling ability and often beats opponents in confrontations.
Odegaard signed with Arsenal on loan in January 2021. He scored his first goal for Arsenal in a 3-1 win over Olympiacos in the Europa League. The Norwegian midfielder quickly proved his talent and earned a starting position. Impressed with Odegaard, France officially recruited him in August 2021.
Odegaard has played for the Norwegian national team since he was 15 years old and became the youngest player to ever debut for this team.
Although only 24 years old, Odegaard has had a successful career. He played for big clubs in Europe and impressed everyone with his technical and creative playing style. Moving to Arsenal was Odegaard’s correct decision to have a turning point in his career. He is also playing an important role in the Gunners’ race to the Premier League title in the 2022-23 season.
And below are 13 interesting facts about Odegaard that GOAL will tell you:
Talent does not wait for age ⚽
Odegaard is considered a football prodigy. He once gained attention throughout Europe thanks to his extremely ‘sticky’ ability to hold the ball. The midfielder made his debut for the Norwegian national team when he was only 15 years old, in a goalless draw with the UAE in 2014.
He scored the first goal for Norway in the match against Romania in the Euro 2020 qualifiers. Currently, Odegaard has made 47 appearances for the national team and was awarded the captain’s armband.
Odegaard and his son joined Real Madrid at the same time 👨👦
Odegaard’s father, Hans Erik Odegaard, did not have an illustrious football career like his son. Yet this father and son came together to work for Real Madrid. In January 2015, Mr. Hans Erik Odegaard became Real Madrid’s youth team coach, and Martin played for the team.
Although not famous in both his career as a player and coach, Hans Erik Odegaard is a master negotiator. Even though he only coached Real Madrid’s young players, Martin’s father is said to have earned more money than the legendary Zinedine Zidane – who was leading the U23 team at that time.
‘Unusual’ contract with Heerenveen 👀
In 2017, Odegaard could not break into Real Madrid’s first team and was loaned to Heerenveen to play more.
Although he sometimes does not play well, the Norwegian midfielder is often present in Heerenveen’s starting lineup.
The reason is because Odegaard’s loan contract has a clause forcing Heerenveen to pay Real Madrid 40,000 Euro/time, if the midfielder plays from the bench.
Therefore, instead of spending 40,000 Euros on Los Blancos, the Dutch team let Odegaard play from the start.
Barca was quicker but left empty-handed
According to many sources, Barcelona approached the Norwegian prodigy before Real Madrid got involved.
Odegaard even went to Barca to visit and practice. In January 2016, he was invited to sign a contract by the ‘Catalan giants’.
“Barcelona invited us to La Masia,” former Norwegian football scout Tor-Kristian Karlsen told Cadena SER . “We met [Andoni] Zubizarreta and were invited to Camp Nou to watch the matches against Ajax.”
“Barcelona is a great club. However, Odegaard and his son considered many factors before making a decision.”
Unfortunately! Barcelona was fined a transfer ban in 2016. This made Odegaard choose to join great rival Real Madrid.
Odegaard was rewarded with a fish 🐟
Unable to break into Real Madrid’s first team, Odegaard was loaned to many teams, before returning to Spain to play for Real Sociedad.
Shine brighter than expected! Odegaard became a pillar in Sociedad’s midfield.
Thanks to his outstanding performances, the Norwegian midfielder was named La Liga’s ‘Player of the Month for September’. Not only did he get a medal from the tournament, Odegaard was also taken to the supermarket by Real Sociedad and rewarded with a big fish.
