How loan deals helped Martin Odegaard achieve his rich potential

In 2014 at the tender age of just 16 Martin Odegaard was arguably the hottest prospect in world football.

After breaking in to the first team of Stromsgodset at 15, he would make 25 appearances in Norway's top division scoring five goals in the process and attracting the attention of some of the biggest clubs around the world.

He was a full international footballer before he turned 16 and it appeared that he was destined to be one of the great players of the modern game.

After visiting both Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, Odegaard made the decision to join the most successful club in the history of European football, signing for Real Madrid in January 2015 for a reported fee of four million euros.

Surely a career at the very top of the Spanish game now beckoned.

Unfortunately it didn't turn out quite that way. The step up at Madrid was far bigger than he had been used to, though it was understandable that a player so young would struggle with the demands of the biggest club in the world.

Despite becoming the youngest debutant in the history of Real Madrid, he would spend much of the next two seasons playing for the club's second team Real Madrid Castilla. He would play 62 times over the course of the next two years, scoring five goals. There were some impressive moments but also periods of poor form, and after two years in Spain it was decided that he Odegaard should seek out first team football with a series of loan spells, designed to get him the experience he needed to ensure he would one day progress to the first team of Real Madrid.

Well those loan spells have paid dividends and this week Odegaard, now enjoying an impressive loan spell at Real Sociedad, scored against his parent club as they knocked Madrid out of the Copa Del Rey in stunning fashion.

In this article we look back at those loan spells that have established Odegaard as one of the best young players in world football once more.

Herenveen

Odegaard joined SC Heerenveen in January 2017

First stop for Odegaard in his series of loan spells was an 18-month loan deal at SC Heerenveen in the Dutch top division.

It was thought that the technical nature of the division would suit the Norwegian's style of play and allow him to develop his game away from the glare of the Madrid spotlight. He made his debut just four days later but initially struggled and found himself confined to bench duty on some occasions.

He would, though, score his first goal in his 15th appearance for the club and he finished that season with two goals in 17 appearances.

Although he would miss 10 games the following season with a foot injury it was in 2017-18 that he really started to find his feet in senior level football. Despite those injury setbacks he would make 26 appearances, score two goals and collect a solitary assist. While these statistics weren't earth shattering he was making progress. He played 2,243 minutes of football, his pass completion was over 80% and crucially he was attempting more shots on goal, averaging over two a game compared to just 1.2 per game the previous season.

His form wouldn't be enough to get him back in the first team picture at Real Madrid but it was more than enough to suggest that he was making real progress and that he would be an asset to many teams.

Vitesse Arnhem

Following the relative success of his first loan period it was decided that Odegaard should remain in Holland but he would move on from Heerenveen, joining Vitesse Arnhem on a season long loan deal.

If his progress had been steady before, 2018-19 would be the season that Odegaard really exploded into the European game.

Although Odegaard's pass completion rate would dip slightly below 80%, every other aspect of his game improved significantly.

In total he would play 39 games in that season, getting over 3,000 minutes of pitch time. His shots per game was on the rise, now averaging 2.4, but crucially this now started resulting in goals, bagging an impressive 11 in all competitions. There would also be an impressive 12 assists for his team mates, while he was also making 3.5 key passes per game, up significantly from 1.9 the previous season.

Although his pass completion rate did dip slightly this can be attributed to Odegaard now attempting significantly more crosses. This rose to 2.2 per game in 2018-19 as he played a slightly more attacking role than in his spell at Heerenveen when he had only attempted one per game playing in a slightly deeper role.

His impressive performances during the season were recognised with two player of the month awards and was also voted into the Eredivisie team of the season.

Real Sociedad

After two successful spells in Holland it was time for the next stage of Odegaard's development which meant bringing him back to Spain.

This would be a key test of the talented young players credentials and would shape whether or not he had a long term future with Real Madrid.

The team chosen for Odegaard was Real Sociedad. He signed for one season with the option for another year.

It would be fair to say that he hit the ground running at his new club and his outstanding start to the season saw him voted La Liga player of the month in September 2019.

At time of writing, he has made 23 appearances for a total of nearly 2,000 minutes. Impressively he has scored six goals and has eight assists. He has become a vital part of what makes Sociedad tick, with an impressive pass completion percentage of 84.2%.

They are currently in sixth place in the league, and perhaps most impressively are now hot favourites to make it to the final of the Spanish Cup, a two legged semi final against second division CD Mirandes, reward for an amazing victory over Odegaard's parent club Real Madrid in the quarter final, in which the Norwegian opened the scoring.

It is surely only a matter of time before Real Madrid make him a key part of their team. With Luka Modric expected to leave this summer and Toni Kroos not getting any younger, don't be surprised to see Odegaard's name on the Zinedine Zidane's team sheet at the start of 2020-21.

Edited by A. Ayush Chatterjee