The path to superstardom for 16-year-old Martin Odegaard has hit a rough patch at Real Madrid, according to Spanish newspaper AS. The supremely talented prospect has been dropped from Real Madrid Castilla, the club’s reserve side.
The decision has come in the wake of a series of poor performances by Real Madrid Castilla in the Spanish third division: the Segunda B. The side had lost four consecutive games, and Odegaard had featured in all of them. After dropping Odegaard to the bench, Castilla won two games in a row.
That the club’s form is affected by Odegaard in such a way is a cause for concern, and for confusion. No one argues that the youngster is supremely talented, so it doesn’t make immediate sense that his side should lose when he plays, and win when he doesn’t.
This correlation of Odegaard’s presence and the team’s form has been blamed on two things. First, Odegaard trains with the Madrid first team throughout the week, and only joins the Castilla side for games over the weekend. This has caused his chemistry with the reserve side to suffer, and backroom staff members reportedly feel that “with Ødegaard in the side, Castilla play more like a team of 10 than 11.” This is compounded by Odegaard’s reportedly poor attitude towards the rest of his Castilla teammates. He has been accused of acting aloof, and of perpetuating an air that he “‘can’t be bothered’ with his Castilla teammates and is only interested in being alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Odegaard has been playing with grown men for sometime now. He was the youngest ever player to represent a senior national side in the European Championship, and he started to train with the Strømsgodset first team in the Norwegian first division at the age of 13.
At Madrid, he is paid 1.2 million euros per year, making him the highest paid 16-year-old footballer in the world.
His talent has been recognized by Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, but with qualifications. Ancelotti has regularly stated that Odegaard needs to be treated with patience, and that it takes time to settle in a new team and new country.
