Carlo Ancelotti delivered a scathing assessment of Real Madrid’s decision to sign Martin Odegaard, just a year after he joined the Spanish giants from Norwegian side Stromsgodset in a deal worth around £2.3 million.
Odegaard was the talk of world football in 2015, when he completed his much-anticipation move from Stromsgodset to Real Madrid.
After becoming the youngest player to appear and score in the Norwegian Premier League, the talented midfielder was on the radar of Europe’s top clubs following a breakthrough campaign that featured five goals and seven assists in 23 appearances.
Los Blancos eventually won the race to sign one of football’s biggest talents, with Ancelotti describing Odegaard as “a kid with talent and personality” before he took part in his first official training session with the senior team.
However, the teenager would go on to make just one appearance under Ancelotti before his sacking in May 2015.
A year later, Ancelotti gave his brutally honest thoughts on Odegaard’s arrival at the Bernabeu.
“When Real Madrid decided to sign a kid from Norway, 16-year-old Martin Odegaard, I thought ‘I don’t care if he comes in or not because he’s not going to play for me now,’” he wrote in Quiet Leadership, a book that was published when Odegaard was 17.
“He could go on to be the best player in the world after I’m gone, but I’m not interested in the signing because it isn’t of importance to my job.
“Of course, when he arrived I treated him with the same respect I would give to any young player, but why would I want to be involved in his recruitment? He is being recruited for the future, for other managers after my time.
“If the president decides that, for a PR exercise, he needs the Norwegian boy to play three games with the first team, I will work out a way of doing that.”
The so-called ‘Norwegian boy’ struggled to make an impression in Madrid and was later shipped out on loan to Heerenveen, Vitesse, Real Sociedad and Arsenal, who would eventually snap him up on a permanent deal worth £30 million.
Odegaard made one appearance under Ancelotti. Image credit: Getty
Odegaard has since flourished under Mikel Arteta and ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final clash between Madrid and Arsenal, a far more complimentary Ancelotti claimed Odegaard has become one of the best midfielders in Europe.
In fact, the Italian admitted that Odegaard was right to leave the Bernabeu for a new challenge in 2021.
“He was very young [at Real Madrid],” Ancelotti said in his pre-match press conference. “He had that talent when he was 16. He left the club for new experiences and he is one of the best midfielders right now in Europe.
“When he arrived, he was really young. He didn’t have space to play in the first team because in front he had [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Karim] Benzema and James Rodriguez, and he didn’t find maybe the space to show his quality.”
Ancelotti added: “He was really young, he decided to go away to have the possibility to play and I think – honestly – he did well because now he is back at one of the most important clubs in Europe.”
