Norwegian Wunderkind Hovers At Real Madrid Castilla

Despite being one of the most obvious footballing talents to come out of Scandinavia since Zlatan Ibrahimovic the Norwegian wunderkind that is Martin Odegaard has struggled to find his way into the first team at Real Madrid and that opens up a lot of opportunities for other clubs to want him on loan after January. The question is, will the young man want to move on to stick around?

Martin Odegaard At Real Madrid

• Trains with the first team
• Plays with Castilla
• Rafa has no need of him yet

Having both natural talent and a fair degree of skill at a young age can be a terrible burden, one I’m glad to say I didn’t have to weather given I was both demonstrably talentless and lacking any skills that anyone could discern beyond a slight propensity to be inventive with my excuses and legitimization for whatever transgression against authority I had committed this week. Those with slightly more potential than I ever displayed however can find themselves under ridiculous pressure.

None more so than young sports men and women who are singled out at a very young age in order to be given special treatment to develop and enhance the natural talents they display. This hot housing of talent is nothing new, but it can often lean to some of the best and brightest burning out far too quickly, especially in the more popular team sports which can add a level of peer pressure, as Norwegian wunderkind Martin Odegaard can tell you.

Back in January there wasn’t a team in Europe that didn’t want to sing the 16 year old Norwegian wunderkind who had wowed so many talent scouts with his keen control and sense of awareness, but his final decision to join Real Madrid has not perhaps been the expressway to fame and fortune he expected it to be when he signed on the dotted line, and he was probably gambling news headlines of his performance would have been more numerous.

No Room At The Top For Odegaard?

The situation the Norwegian wunderkind finds himself in isn’t a pleasant one as he has completely failed to find a place in Rafa Benitez’s strategic overview despite that being his obvious aim, and his contractual circumstances, which probably seemed like a good idea at the time, are now somewhat of an albatross around young Odegaard’s neck. The question is will the discomfort of the situation lead to a stifling of his skills during his formative footballing years?

Even Zidane has his reservations

Training with the first team during the week come match day Odegaard pulls on a Real Madrid B-Team strip and plays for Castilla under the somewhat straightforward leadership of Zinedine Zidane the former French international who is still trying to live down getting sent off for headbutting Marco Materazzi in such dramatically memorable fashion in the 2006 World Cup. This duality of dichotomy for the young Norwegian wunderkind hasn’t been received all that well by some of his fellow players.

Naturally there are some amongst the younger squad members who are somewhat resentful of this newly arrived player that gets to hob-nob with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo during the week at the Valdebebas training ground and then appears to slum it on match days with them at Castilla just because Rafa can’t find a place for him in the big boys’ team. Despite this it is said Odegaard is popular amongst teammates, but those that like to bet on sports in Norway might not want to wager on it.

Norwegian Wunderkind’s Unkind Position

Not training with but playing for Castilla is a tricky situation, but there have been other costs, including missing out on international duty with the Norwegian Under 19s simply because he doesn’t train with them and Luis Migeuel Ramis doesn’t see the need to rock a stable boat at this time. That said Odegaard did participate in Real Madrid’s tour of both China and Australia, as well as the trip round Germany, which in of itself caused him more headaches.

The summer was full of transfer offers, none of which he could accept as he was abroad and by the time he got back from globetrotting the Norwegian Wunderkind would have had precious little time to complete any deal. So then Odegaard doesn’t so much languish as hover just below where Rafa would find him useful but apart from the rest of his Castilla team mates, his fellow Norwegian Under 19s and the dreams he may have harbored about a fast track to the big time.

January will be an interesting time for the Norwegian wunderkind as a lot of clubs will look to take him on loan, and with a lack of first time game opportunities at Real Madrid there’s no doubt that Odegaard will have a lot to consider. Naturally there are plenty around willing to back whomever he plays for on ComeOn! Sportsbook, but if you’re Norwegian gambling laws of sporting success means he has to instantly hit the big time, think again, far better he’s left to simmer than pressed harder and boils over.