Here at Sport Witness, we knew the second Martin Odegaard returned to Arsenal on a permanent transfer that the knives would be out in Spain.
The midfielder has very much divided opinion in the Spanish capital, and every man and his dog have been keen to come out and have their say.
In truth, Odegaard’s return to Arsenal makes it very easy column inches, and the midfielder is a very easy target to throw the knives at.
That’s why we’ve already seen Odegaard accused of a lack of ambition, lacking the will to fight and wanting a comfortable situation, and Arsenal labelled a club ‘immersed in depression’ over the last week or so.
Today it’s the turn of Mundo Deportivo journalist Juan Carlos Rivero to have his say and, while the claws are not exactly out, he doesn’t speak about Odegaard in glowing terms either.
He explains that the midfielder simply started too early in his career, being the youngest player to play for Norway and Real Madrid’s first team.
By that point, he had already been courted by most of Europe’s elite, turning out on the training ground for the likes of Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City to ‘general admiration’.
All were convinced they were in the presence of a ‘pearl’ who had a ‘promising present and a splendid future’. The reality has been very different, though.
Instead of being a star, Odegaard has only ever featured regularly for Madrid’s reserve team and endured a ‘carousel of loan spells’ at the likes of Heerenveen, Vitesse, Real Sociedad and Arsenal last year.
Rivero’s belief is that Odegaard started his journey too early and ‘has not yet found a destination’, with Europe only seeing his talent in ‘dribs and drabs’.
Fortunately, he has time on his side, but Real Madrid has now become an impossible dream for him with his latest move.
The journalist argues that Odegaard needs to ‘put down roots’ otherwise, he will end up ‘withering away’ on a never-ending journey to ‘never-never land.’ Some people more spiteful than us might suggest he’s already arrived there, indeed we’re sure there’s plenty in Spain saying just that.
