Cristiano Ronaldo foresaw Martin Odegaard’s rise to becoming a top-tier player during their shared tenure at Real Madrid.
The 26-year-old Norwegian prodigy emerged from the youth ranks of Stromsgodset back in 2013, and by 2015, at just 16 years old, he made shockwaves when Los Blancos scooped him up – making him the youngest ever to join their first team. Despite a promising start, Odegaard found himself largely on the sidelines for the Los Blancos senior team, clocking only 11 appearances.
Instead, he was mainly deployed with Zinedine Zidane’s Castilla reserve squad, as he was overshadowed by established international aces Toni Kroos and Luka Modric in the first team. Consequently, Real Madrid opted to loan him out to several clubs including Heerenveen, Vitesse, Real Sociedad, and eventually Arsenal to continue his development.
Despite limited game time at Real Madrid, Ronaldo saw the seed of greatness in Odegaard early on. Speaking with BT Sport in 2015, the then-Madrid spotted the youngster’s potential, explaining: “You see many players with potential. I will mention Martin Odegaard of Madrid for example, at 16 he’s still young but you can see he’s a very good player.
He added: “He’s a great player, I think he’s a young boy, he can still grow. He has a good future ahead. We must give him time to learn, to take his best decisions. But I see a lot of potential in the player, he has got a good left foot.”
After making an impression during his loan spell at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, Odegaard secured a permanent move to the Emirates Stadium in 2021. The deal that brought the Norwegian playmaker to north London permanently was reported to be worth £30million – a savvy investment considering how swiftly Odegaard has lived up to Ronaldo’s rosy forecast for his career.
