Martin Odegaard Breaks Club Record in Debut for Real Madrid vs. Getafe

Real Madrid youngster Martin Odegaard has become the youngest player to ever appear in La Liga for Los Blancos after making his debut against Getafe at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

At just 16 years and 156 days old, the Norwegian wonderkid takes the record from Sebastian Losada, who debuted at 17 years and six days old in 1984, per Carlos Forjanes of AS.

BeIn Sports showed Odegaard replacing Cristiano Ronaldo against Pablo Franco Martin's side:

Odegaard previously came close to making his debut during an April 29 match with Almeria, according to Forjanes. He was called into Carlo Ancelotti's squad but did not feature. With Barcelona having already captured La Liga's title, the starlet was able to play with less pressure during the Getafe fixture.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Odegaard arrived at the Bernabeu from Norwegian club Stromsgodset in January in a highly publicised move after he had trialled at a number of top European clubs, per UEFA.

He has been training intermittently with the senior squad but up until now has appeared exclusively for the Real Madrid Castilla side in the third tier of Spanish football, coached by Zinedine Zidane.

B/R UK's Spanish football expert, Guillem Balague, reports that the decision to include the Norwegian international in the first-team squad was made by the club, not just the manager:

The powers that be at Real clearly see him as a future superstar, and having made his first appearance in Spain's top tier, Odegaard will no doubt be eager for more next season.

It is unlikely that Odegaard will nail down a regular first-team spot anytime soon. But to have experienced La Liga football for the first time at such an early stage in his career can surely only help him improve further.