Ancelotti talks about how Odegaard was signed for PR purposes by Real supremo Florentino Perez.
Carlo Ancelotti has given the world an interesting insight into the mind of the Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. According to a report by AS, Carlo Ancelotti revealed that the signing of Odegaard was merely a PR exercise. Martin Odegaard was revealed as a Real Madrid player in Jan 2015 as a 15-year-old teenage sensation.
Writing about his time with Madrid, Ancelotti has disclosed in his book, Quiet Leadership, that “When Florentino buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it. Furthermore, the president decided that he would play three games with the first team as a public relations exercise.”
The book also goes on to reveal how Ancelotti was not interested in signing Odegaard: “He could be the best player in the world, but I don’t care because he was not a player who I asked for. That signing was to do with PR”.
The child prodigy who was touted to do great things by the footballing world has so far scored only 2 goals in the second division in 49 appearances. However, Odegaard can take comfort from the fact that he has previously worked under Zinedine Zidane, who had previously been managing the Real Madrid B-Team.
What does the future hold for the Norwegian teenage sensation?
Considering his age, Odegaard should be carefully nurtured and counseled by the people around him. It is important for him to pursue his development elsewhere in an environment more friendly to footballing youth. Madrid are now also looking for possible destinations where Odegaard could continue his development. England and Germany are considered as good places where the Norwegian teenager can grow as a player.
The best options in England for a young player are Southampton and West Ham United, whereas in Germany, Dortmund and Munich have one of the most powerful youth setups in the world. The contract of Odegaard however states that he must only train with the first team and play matches for the Castilla (Real Madrid B).
