Cristiano Ronaldo tipped Martin Odegaard for greatness when the two men were team-mates at Real Madrid – and he is proving the Portuguese legend’s forecast to be true at Arsenal
Cristiano Ronaldo tipped Martin Odegaard for greatness when the two men were team-mates at Real Madrid – and he is proving the Portuguese legend’s forecast to be true at Arsenal Cristiano Ronaldo tipped Martin Odegaard for greatness when the two men were team-mates at Real Madrid – and he is proving the Portuguese legend’s forecast to be true at Arsenal
Cristiano Ronaldo tipped Martin Odegaard to become a world-class player when they shared the pitch at Real Madrid – a prediction which has since come true at Arsenal.
The 26-year-old Norwegian broke through the youth system of Stromsgodset in 2013, before Los Blancos stunned the world by bringing the relatively unknown player to the Bernabeu in 2015 at the age of just 16 – becoming the club’s youngest-ever first-team player. However, wonderkid Odegaard saw little action for the senior side during his stint in the Spanish capital, appearing on just 11 occasions while spending the most part of his tenure under Zinedine Zidane for the Castilla reserves side.
Odegaard never quite managed to break through into the main La Liga squad over his six-year tenure with Real Madrid, outclassed by the likes of experienced international pair Toni Kroos and Luka Modric. He was instead sent out on loan to the likes of Heerenveen, Vitesse, Real Sociedad and Arsenal to develop as a player.
Despite his small amount of game time for Real Madrid, Ronaldo quickly identified him as being a talent who would one day achieve great things. Speaking to BT Sport in 2015 while he was a Los Blancos player himself, Ronaldo explained: “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 continued: “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.”
Odegaard made a permanent move to the Emirates Stadium in 2021 after enjoying a successful loan spell in north London under Mikel Arteta, signing on the dotted line for a reported £30million – and it didn’t take the creative midfielder long to make Ronaldo’s predictions a reality.
Odegaard played 36 games in his first full season for Arsenal, scoring seven goals and creating four assists, despite the Gunners finishing fifth in the Premier League. And his second season as an official Arsenal player was even more fruitful, named club captain in 2022 while leading the side to a second-place finish in the league just five points shy of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The 2023/24 campaign proved to be even closer in terms of Arsenal almost achieving their first league title in some 20 years, missing out on the Premier League once more to City – albeit by just two points this time – in a season which saw Odegaard bag eight goals and 10 assists in 35 appearances.
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Image:
Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Thanks to his efforts, Odegaard has been named Arsenal’s Player of the Season for two years in a row, despite being a part of a team filled with talents like Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard – while also lifting a Community Shield in 2023. He was also named in the PFA’s Team of the Year in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
And skipper Odegaard’s efforts with the Gunners over the past three years have of course not gone unnoticed by Arteta, who recently praised the attacking midfielder’s abilities during an interview with Sky Sports. When pressed on how important individual players can be, the Spaniard confessed: “Well you see that in the sport in many other teams.
“You know that you miss one, two, three players, it can have a huge impact on your team. It’s not only just the position that they play, it’s how it affects relationships – how it affects dynamics – and Martin has a big role in our team, that’s why he’s the captain.
“And having him on the pitch, around the team in training sessions, it’s already better. And when he’s on the pitch and performing at that level, obviously he takes everybody’s game to a different universe I would say.”
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