Martin Odegaard has had a pretty weird career at Real Madrid so far. When he joined Los Blancos in 2015 he was already dubbed the next big thing; a superstar in making.
The 20-year-old was, at first, part of Real Madrid Castilla, their younger squad, but was moved to the senior team in 2017. Unfortunately, he never truly made it and as a result he’s been sent on multiple loans. There is a strong sense that he has never managed to settle completely.
His latest transfer, however, took him back to La Liga to join Real Sociedad, and if the early signs are any indication, Odegaard is going to be a huge success for his new team.
So far, he’s played a total of three games since he joined and was already named their player of the month for August. And that award was very much warranted by the youngster.
In the three games he played, he scored one goal, averaged 1.7 shots, two key passes and three dribbles per game. It’s safe to say that he was indeed one of their best performers since the beginning of the new 2019/20 campaign.
But if there was one game that absolutely had to be highlighted, one which showcases what Odegaard is all about, it would be the clash against Valencia.
Real Sociedad’s opening game of the new league season was a rather tough one but they managed to share the spoils with a really dangerous team after a one-all draw. And their 20-year-old gem was at the heart of everything that was going on.
Odegaard tallied a sublime five key passes, three dribbles and 90.1% passing accuracy, while having the third-most touches in the team with 89. But he was also doing fine work on the defensive side of things as well. He registered three tackles, which is more than any other Real Sociedad player, including the defenders.
He may not have found his place at Real Madrid just yet but if he continues to perform like this, Zinedine Zidane might want to consider incorporating him into his plans for the future.
Of course, having only played three games so far for Real Sociedad, Odegaard is still very much an unknown entity and we’ll just have to wait and see how he develops throughout the season.
The early signs, however, show great promise for the young player.