BOY WONDER

After enjoying a bumpy ride since first bursting onto the scene as a teenage wonderkid in Norway, Arsenal captain  Martin Odegaard is now fulfilling his vast potential

- Nick Bidwell

Martin Odegaard, one of the fulcrums of Arsenal’s concerted push for their first Premier League title in almost two decades, has no need to be reminded that football can be a fickle business. The Norwegian attacking midfielder, 24, knows all about the vicissitudes of the top level, the ups and downs, the hype which can swiftly segue into a dead-end of frustration.

Once regarded as schoolboy prodigy – so much so that he drew comparisons with a certain Lionel Messi – Odegaard was a mere 15 when he made his full debut for Norway in 2014 and signed for the mighty Real Madrid just months later, joining them in a €4 million deal from the Stromsgodset club in January 2015. At the time, no other kid in Europe was as revered.

“It’s a dream come true,” gushed the teenager at his unveiling at Real’s Valdebebas training HQ. The ensuing years, however, turned out to be anything but. His first three-and-a-half seasons involved nothing more than some relatively nondescript displays for Real’s reserve team, Castilla, precious few first-team opportunities, and an 18-month loan in the Netherlands with Heerenveen.

It wasn’t until the 2018-19 season that Odegaard began to show glimpses of what all the fuss had been about. In another season in the Eredivisie, this time with Vitesse Arnhem, he scored nine league goals and assisted 12 – a tally bettered only by Ajax stars Dusan Tadic and Hakim Ziyech. His form that year convinced Real Sociedad to take him on loan for the following season, where his performances improved at an astounding rate.