In a bit of a surprise, Martin Odegaard has made Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League squad list.
The 17-year-old Norwegian attacker was the object of a bidding war when he decided to leave Stromsgodset, but has struggled to break into the Real Madrid team (as do most players, let alone 16-17 year-olds).
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Odegaard had a goal and 7 assists for Real Madrid Castilla last season in Segunda B play but did not feature for the big club. The previous season, he saw 37 minutes over two games for Real Madrid.
Apparently he’s matured a bunch from the kid who was dropped from the B side in 2015 for a failure to show proper commitment. Let’s hope to see some of those silky skills continue to evolve into a full player.