Real Madrid’s 16-year-old £2.3million signing Martin Odegaard confirmed on Thursday that the prospect of working with Zinedine Zidane turned...
Real Madrid’s 16-year-old £2.3million signing Martin Odegaard confirmed on Thursday that the prospect of working with Zinedine Zidane turned his head away from the Premier League and towards the European champions.
The Norwegian teenager, who was presented at the club’s training ground, is on a basic £40,000-a-week for his first half-season but can double that with bonuses.
He chose Madrid despite visiting Liverpool and Arsenal on a whistle-stop tour of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Real are among the clubs who have paid big money for youngsters in the past — and had their fingers burned.
In 2010 they signed 18-year-old Sergio Canales for £4m but he never became a first-team regular and is now with David Moyes at Real Sociedad. On Saturday, Real face Bebe — signed as a 19-year-old by Sir Alex Ferguson for £7.4m five years ago and now on loan at Cordoba from Benfica.
But there is firm belief that Odegaard will be a success and Thursday’s high-profile presentation saw Real basking in the glory of having beaten many of Europe’s top clubs to sign him.
They will take special pleasure in having denied Barcelona. Banned by UEFA from making any signings until 2016, Barca could not follow up their own interest.
While Barcelona signed Leo Messi aged 13 and also brought Neymar to Europe, Real’s record for producing world-class players is not as good as their record for buying them. Odegaard is their chance to change that.
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