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Martin Odegaard explains how Cristiano Ronaldo helped him settle in at Real Madrid.
Martin Odegaard has explained how Cristiano Ronaldo and two other senior players helped him settle in at Real Madrid as a youngster.
At the young age of 16, Odegaard moved from his home in Norway’s Stromsgodset to the Spanish capital.
He didn’t speak Spanish when he initially arrived at Valdebebas, but he found a few guys in the locker room who could speak English, including Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Ronaldo.
Odegaard, now 24 and the captain of Arsenal, has lauded those three players for being “very kind” while reminiscing about his initial days in Madrid as a teenager.
“All I’m thinking is about how these guys will treat me when I walk into their dressing room. This little kid who didn’t speak any Spanish,” Odegaard told The Players’ Tribune.
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“But they were all very kind and the ones who spoke English – Kroos, Modric, Ronaldo – took extra care of me in the beginning. They gave me advice and helped me a lot. But, honestly, I don’t think any of them were particularly worried about a 16-year-old from Norway taking their place in the team.”
Odegaard became the youngest player to debut for Real Madrid at 16 years and 157 days old in May 2016 when he replaced Ronaldo in a 7-3 win over Getafe.
He struggled to fit in at Madrid, though and was given many loan stints in the Eredivisie and La Liga before making a second temporary move to the Gunners in January 2021.
At the Emirates, he began to gain prominence. In the summer of 2021, he committed permanently to the London club, and he hasn’t looked back since.
The midfielder will be in action on Saturday when Arsenal will face Brentford in the Premier League.