It might already seem like a lifetime ago, but Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard and Al-Nassr skipper Cristiano Ronaldo were once teammates at Real Madrid, though the former spent most of his time playing with Madrid's reserve team, Real Madrid Castilla.
Ronaldo's career with Los Blancos needs no introduction as the Portuguese superstar spent nine seasons there, tallying an unprecedented 450 goals from 438 appearances for the club. He won 16 major trophies before moving to Juventus in 2018 and winding up at Al-Nassr in 2022.
The Spanish giants' all-time top scorer is largely considered to be the club's best ever player, if not just the club's best ever attacker, and he saw a great deal of potential in Odegaard.
In a period spanning from 2015 to 2018, Odegaard was a Madrid player, having signed from Norwegian side Strømsgodset in January of 2015. Ironically enough, he made his senior team debut by virtue of replacing Ronaldo during the last league match of the 2014/15 season against Getafe. By 2017, Odegaard had been sent out on various loan stints at Heerenveen, Vitesse, and Real Sociedad before eventually moving to Arsenal in the winter of 2021. The rest is history.
Ronaldo Envisioned Odegaard's Trajectory
While Odegaard was just a teenager at Real Madrid, Ronaldo could see the writing on the wall. He saw the talent and potential in Arsenal's current captain, and back in 2015, predicted a bright future ahead (via Mirror):
"You see many players with potential. I will mention Martin Odegaard of Madrid for example, at 16 he's still young but you can see he's a very good player.
He's a great player, I think he's a young boy, he can still grow. He has a good future ahead. We must give him time to learn, to take his best decisions. But I see a lot of potential in the player, he has got a good left foot."
Hindsight is always 20/20, but one would be hard pressed to go back and find a Madridista that were pleased with the club selling Odegaard to Arsenal, knowing the potential he possessed. It was always going to be difficult for him to crack through into regular minutes in a midfield at the time spearheaded by Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, and Casemiro.
Additionally, it's hard to argue against a midfield that helped the club win three Champions League in the span of time Odegaard was still on Madrid's books (2015-2021).
Proving Ronaldo Right
It' safe to say that Odegaard has proven Ronaldo's prediction to be right. Since he's joined Arsenal, the Norwegian international has gone on to tally 46 goals and 46 assists from a total of 242 matches across all competitions and has been a key figure in the Norway national team alongside Erling Haaland.
Odegaard has won the Premier League title and two Community Shields and been the real engine room propelling Mikel Arteta's midfield. He came ever so close to lifting the Champions League title last spring in Budapest.
If he had stayed at the Estadio Bernabeu, his career might not have taken off like it has at the Emirates, but it's clear that there was certainly a great deal of substance to what Ronaldo said and saw over a decade ago.
