Martin Odegaard Says He Plans to See out 2-Year Loan Spell at Real Sociedad

Martin Odegaard has confirmed he still plans to stay at Real Sociedad for the duration of his two-year loan spell rather than return to Real Madrid early. 

The 21-year-old moved to La Real last July and has been superb in the 2019-20 campaign, netting four goals and providing five assists in La Liga:

Early last month he opened the scoring as his current side dumped his parent club out of the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage, and he scored again when La Real beat second-tier Mirandes 2-1 in the first leg of their semi-final tie. The second leg takes place on Wednesday.

As well as being in line to win a first piece of major silverware since 1987, La Real are in the running to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League:

As a result of Odegaard's fine form, there has been some talk of him returning to the Santiago Bernabeu earlier than planned, but he has now said he wants to stay at the Anoeta Stadium for the duration of his loan spell and help the club reach their goals, per El Diairo Vasco (h/t Goal's Josh Heycock):

"When people ask if I will be here to play in the Champions League, I always say that I'm very happy here and that the plan is to play for La Real for two years. Playing against the best teams in the world is something that is great for a player and it's a dream for me.

"However, there are some very good teams in the fight, like Getafe, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Valencia. Two things make me very excited, as we want to win the Copa del Rey and qualify for the Champions League."

Odegaard signed for Real just over five years ago after being linked with numerous other top European clubs.

He has made only one La Liga appearance for the Madrid giants, but loan spells at Heerenveen, Vitesse Arnhem and now La Real have indicated the Norway international could soon be a key part of the Los Blancos first team.

He is still remarkably young and likely only going to improve further as he gets more experience.

Odegaard has relished being La Real's key playmaker this term, an indication he will be able to handle the pressure when he finally returns to the Santiago Bernabeu:

After his latest comments, it seems that will not be until after the 2020-21 season.