Real Madrid Transfer News: Cristiano Ronaldo Names Martin Odegaard His Successor

Martin Odegaard has been told he will “need to take over” from Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid by the man himself.

According to Drammens Tidende (h/t AS), Odegaard is due to arrive in Madrid on Thursday, Jan. 22 to finalise his move to Real.

And the 16-year-old’s current Stromsgodset team-mate Martin Ovenstad, per Norwegian television channel TV2 (h/t AS), says Odegaard has been given Ronaldo’s backing.

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“He said he spoke with Cristiano and he said: ‘In a couple of years I will stop scoring as many goals and you need to take over,’” said Ovenstad of Odegaard's conversation with the Portuguese star.

Speaking before the Ballon d’Or ceremony earlier in January, Ronaldo expressed his view of the Norwegian midfielder.

“[He is a] good player,” said Ronaldo, per Thomas Jacobs of the Daily Mail. “He is a young boy who can still grow - he's 16 years old. He has a good future. We must give him time to learn and to take the best decisions, but I see a lot of potential in the player.”

Odegaard has been a target for a string of clubs across Europe. Premier League teams Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United had all shown an interest, per The Guardian. Bundesliga clubs Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart were also said to want Odegaard.

Indeed, he was reportedly set to sign for Bayern Munich when he turned 16 in December, per Sport1 (h/t 101 Great Goals).

However, it now seems highly likely that Odegaard will sign for European champions Real. He will train alongside Ronaldo in the first team but will play for Real’s B team Castilla for the rest of this season, per AS.

Interestingly, although he has been backed by Ronaldo to succeed the Ballon d’Or winner at Real, Odegaard’s playing style has been likened to that of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

Brian Deane, per Kristan Heneage of the BBC, is one of many people to have compared Odegaard to Messi. Deane was coach of Norwegian side Sarpsborg when Odegaard scored his first goal for Stromsgodset.

But, in order to emulate Messi’s exploits, Jonathan Wilson of The Guardian writes that Odegaard will need some good fortune:

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From the outside, Odegaard looks to have all the attributes to be extremely successful. He may be a Messi or he may be a Babangida, although the likelihood is he will be somewhere in between. Application and luck will play their parts, but it is also simply the case that players develop at different rates. Those who come through first are not necessarily the best.

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Odegaard is certainly not the first promising young player to be saddled with the tag of being the next big thing. But it is clear from the number of major clubs who have been clamouring to sign him that he has greater potential than most.

Playing for Castilla, rather than going straight into the Real first team, is going to be of great benefit for Odegaard. It will help him to acclimatise to life in Spain and the style of football. It will also help to reduce some of the pressure on his shoulders.

Allied to training with the first team regularly, it will mean Odegaard is in a much stronger position to make an impact when he does eventually make Carlo Ancelotti’s selection. It is to be hoped that the build-up will be worth it.