MARTIN ØDEGAARD: RE-AWAKENING OF THE WONDER KID

Born sometime in December 1998 to a former footballer and his one-time coach, Martin Ødegaard is one footballer whose story and rise to fame is both interesting and inspiring. He made his senior debut for Norwegian side Strømsgodset in 2014 at the young age of 15, emerging as the youngest player to feature in a Norwegian top-flight league game. He also set the Tippeligaen record for being its youngest goal scorer, as well as setting the record as the youngest senior Norwegian player and youngest to play in the UEFA European Championship qualifiers. He signed his first professional contract with Strømsgodset, the club he had been with since 2012 before making his debut in 2014.

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Ødegaard once had training visits to Bayern Munich as well as Manchester United. Also in 2014, during the Norwegian close season, he trained with Liverpool’s first team and also visited London Colney, the training ground of Arsenal football club where he currently plies his trade in the English Premier League, as well as Real Madrid.

In 2015, Real Madrid announced to have signed the then 15-year-old for a reported fee of around €3m, which could rise to about €8m. In that announcement, it was stated that he will be training with the senior team, as well as the reserve team (the Castilla). He will then go on to feature for the Castilla, which was then coached by Zinedine Zidane. He made his official senior debut for Los Blancos in the final fixture of that season against Getafe, making him the youngest debutant of the club at just 16 years of age.

Ødegaard’s time at Madrid was not all that as he had to deal with the presence of players like Modric, Isco and the others, as well as issues bordering around the language barrier, new culture and having to stay far away from home at that very young age. He became a regular for the Castilla in the 2015/16 season but could only nail a handful of senior team appearances and the then coach of Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, urged the fans to be patient with him and not put much burden on his shoulder, as he is still very young. Ødegaard arrived in Spain at a period when Madrid’s longtime rivals, Barcelona, also had another massive young talent, Alen Halilovic in the ranks who now plays for Rijeka in his home country of Croatia. At some point, Ødegaard and Halilovic were predicted to be the future of el classico with both billed to continue from where Ronaldo and Messi would stop. That spoke massive volumes about their talents as youngsters.

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In January of 2017, Ødegaard will go on to join Eredivisie side, SC Heerenveen on an 18month loan deal and will go on to make his Eredivisie debut four days after coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 win against ADO Den Haag. His start to life in the Eredivisie was not impressive but he became a regular for his loan club in the 2017/18 season, after which he went on another loan spell in the Eredivisie but this time to SBV Vitesse for the 2018/19 season, in what will be termed as a successful loan spell, where he went on to make 39 appearances for the club with 11goals and 12 assists in all competitions.

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He will then go on another season-long loan, but this time, back in the Spanish Laliga with Real Sociedad for the 2019/20 season, with Madrid retaining the option to recall him or extend the deal for an additional season. He had another productive loan spell at the Anoeta with eye-catching displays and performances that won him the September 2019 Laliga Player of the Month, the type of performances that caught the eyes of Europe’s top clubs. He will go on to score important goals for the Basque side, one of which was against his parent club, Madrid, which helped his loan club knock them out at the quarter-final stage of the 2019/20 Copa del Rey tourney, which his loan club will go on to reach the finals that was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. The club also qualified for the 2020/21 Europa League having finished sixth in Laliga, he will then miss the end of that season due to a tendon injury.

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In the 2020/21 season, MØ was recalled by Madrid and started the opening game of the season against Sociedad but will go on to find a regular berth elusive, which catalyzed his switch to Emirates stadium after featuring only just nine times in the opening half of that season. He went on to register his intention of leaving the club in search of regular playing time, he eventually joined Arsenal where he is currently the captain, for an initial loan spell till the end of the season. During his loan spell at Arsenal, he went on to admit he was enjoying his time and admits that Arsenal would be a club that suits him. Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, who was an admirer of the Norwegian, also acknowledged the fact that he is the kind of player that will bring attacking options to the team as he provides quality with his abilities.

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Ødegaard was rewarded with a four-year permanent contract after the initial loan spell until 2025 in a deal worth €35m with potential ad-ons, which could rise to about €40m. The deal also has an option of extension for a fifth year and he will go on to emerge as the club captain a year after following the departures of club captain, Aubameyang and stand-in captain, Lacazette.

In the current season, he has been influential in the performances of the team and is one of the major stars keeping the club as the current league leader. He has been giving superb displays, and commanding play with poise and vigour. He is the most in-form midfielder in the league as of now, arguably ahead of city’s Kevin DeBruyne. This season, outside is sleek and silky moves, he has also gone on to improve on his end product adding goals to his game. He has surpassed his last season’s goals tally by netting 10 times making him joint third among midfielders to get the goals and his 7 assists means he’s the joint second (alongside United’s  Christian Eriksen) with assists in the league so far and only city’s DeBruyne having more assists (13). MØ’s goal-scoring has mainly increased because he has been getting into positions in and around the opposition box feeding off loose balls and rebounds.

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Playing style

Martin Ødegaard is a trequartista as he plays in the attacking third of the pitch right in the hole behind the striker/forward, has the ability to receive the ball and find players in spaces or push towards goal to score. He is very calm and composed on the ball, press-resistant with a deft ability to dribble as well as create goal-scoring chances just like the recently retired German midfield maestro, Mesut Özil, who also featured in the colours of Arsenal. He can control the tempo of the game as his combinational play is top-notch with his passing range usually in quick short distances i.e. the give-and-go passes or what many will term as 1-2 passes, with which he has forged an understanding with Bukayo Saka and Ben White on the right side.

He also combines well with Thomas Partey picking up the ball from the deep and pushing play forward to create goal-scoring chances as well as Granit Xhaka who plays more as #8 these days. His mobility affords him the freedom to roam in the opposition half and pick spaces, as such not necessarily confining him within the hole. Most of Arsenal’s attacks start and flow through him as he brings the more advanced forwards into play by way of making key passes.

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In all of these, personally, the only downside I see to his play is the fact that he tends to go missing the moment the team cannot seem to find its rhythm, nothing just works for him in such moment or instance. It is also worth noting that his major weakness is the defensive side of his game as his defensive contributions are mostly suspect because he is not necessarily a good tackler. However, to me, I can excuse him of that as it is not necessarily his primary duty and it does not mean he is not putting in a defensive shift as it can be seen on several occasions how he joins in the pressing of opponents whenever the team is out of possession.

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Conclusively, it can be seen why Europe’s top clubs were all over him and after his signature from a very young age and he has been proving that in the last 3-4 seasons, with his displays and performances, why he is been sought after.

It can be said that his move initially away from his home country of Norway to the Laliga did not kick start as expected but one can make an excuse for him because only a handful of 15year olds can leave their family, culture and comfort zone to a foreign land where they will be mostly alone and not feel missing. As it stands, he has grown to be more mature and handles things with poise, calmness and brilliance, not one to court controversies and his game keeps improving by the day. Not to forget he is only just 24 where, and barring injuries, his best years are still very much ahead of him as he is just entering into the peak of his career.

For me, on current form, he is the best midfielder in the EPL as it stands and he has a massive shout to emerge as the player of the season only to be rivalled by Bukayo Saka (his Arsenal teammate who is also having a stellar season) and his compatriots Erling Haaland, who is already breaking records for City and the EPL despite been his inaugural season.