Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard has been a real success story at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners ace’s career stalled somewhat at Real Madrid before Arsenal took a chance on him.
Odegaard has made a huge impact with the Gunners since his initial loan move in January 2021.
Arsenal went on to snap the midfielder up from Real that summer for a reported £30million plus bonuses.
Two years on, and Odegaard is now closing in on 100 competitive Gunners appearances.
He has also claimed 19 goals and 14 assists, not to mention becoming the youngest club captain since Cesc Fabregas.
This season, Odegaard has registered an impressive 10 goals and seven assists from 27 Premier League outings.
Odegaard was famously one of the top youngsters in world football before Real signed him.
He made his professional debut at the age of 15, having initially appeared for Stromsgodset’s first-team in a friendly at 13.
With the international break in fully swing, Norwegian outlet TV2 featured a story about Odegaard’s former teammates at Stromgodset.
‘What just happened?’
Tokmac Nguyen was quoted as saying, as transcribed by Sport Witness: “What I remember best about Martin was actually his first training session with the first team.
“After training, I and the rest of the guys sat in the changing room with a special feeling.
“We looked at each other and thought ‘what just happened?’. We were all a bit in shock.”
Thomas Sorum, who also played with Odegaard, also talked about the Arsenal star’s formative years.
“He had a very special understanding of space that was unique for his age.
“During his first year at Godset, he had a completely wild development.”
There are so many players in football who look like the next big thing, but then they don’t quite live up to the hype.
It looked as though Odegaard could’ve been heading in that direction when he was on the Bernabeu’s books.
Luckily, Arsenal took a chance on him, and both parties have helped each other out en route to the top and potential glory.
In other news, Why is Starbucks on strike as workers join nationwide 2023 protest in the U.S?
