Martin Odegaard's rise to stardom

How did Europe’s most coveted Wunderkind, signed by Real Madrid aged 16, end up nearly drifting into football obscurity before transforming both his career and the fortunes of Arsenal?

Odegaard is a Norwegian footballer who is captain of both his club and country. Born in Drammen, Norway in 1998, Odegaard’s story is very much ongoing, but how he got to this point is fascinating.

From a very early age Odegaard was playing well beyond his years, turning out for Strømsgodset’s junior team aged 13, with the average age of the players around 19.

Aged just 15 Odegaard made his senior debut, becoming the youngest player ever to play in the Norwegian top flight. A few weeks later he also became the youngest goalscorer, putting the footballing world on notice.

Over the course of his debut season, Odegaard’s performances continued to improve and soon he was a regular starter despite his young age.

There was much speculation about the Norwegian’s future as he visited some of the biggest clubs in the world including Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Real Madrid.

By Odegaard’s own account, he was very close to signing with Arsenal as a 16-year-old, but ultimately the pull of Madrid and Real Madrid reserve team manager Zinedine Zidane was too much to turn down.

Odegaard’s contract stipulated he would play for Real Madrid Castilla (reserves or B team) but he would train with the first team, which included some of the greatest players in the world all whilst he was still only 17.

The high pressure of Madrid is not easy for most players, but a 16-year-old who doesn’t speak the native tongue was always in a difficult spot. Despite being dropped from the Castilla at one point, Odegaard would make his senior Madrid debut.

With the prospects of starting for Madrid looking slim, Odegaard was sent on loan to SC Heerenveen, SBV Vitesse and eventually Real Sociedad. From January 2017 to June 2020 Odegaard would not take part in a single game for Real Madrid.

The 2020/21 season saw Odegaard return to the Los Blancos squad for the first time in three years where he would be given a chance to earn a starting spot.

With competition at Madrid remaining tough, Odegaard was desperate to continue playing first-team football and helped push through a loan move to Mikel Arteta’s improving Arsenal side.

As Odegaard put it in his Player’s Tribune piece, he finally ‘found a home’ in North London and Arsenal signed him permanently in the summer of 2021.

A leader by example, Odegaard embodies everything Mikel Arteta wants in a captain, willing to work hard and play with freedom and expression. He followed an illustrious group of Arsenal captains including Tony Adams, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira.

The 21/22 season was a brutal one for Arsenal, missing out on Champions League football by a point to bitter rivals Tottenham, but it showed how the squad started to grow around their Norwegian captain.

Despite playing as a midfielder in the Arsenal system, Odegaard is tied with Gabriel Martinelli on top of the Arsenal goal-scoring charts with 15, along with eight assists.

Odegaard’s Arsenal look unlikely to win the Premier League this year despite sitting top for the majority of the season, but with his leadership, talent and poise staying put, there is no reason why they can’t continue to build around their talismanic Norwegian.