Back to HomeMidfielders trying to hit other midfieldersThe Rise and Fall of Martin Odegaard: From Child Prodigy to Modern Playmaker
The Rise and Fall of Martin Odegaard: From Child Prodigy to Modern PlaymakerAttacking Midfielders by Hale Hendrix on July 10, 2024Nothing to say
Fans of football all over the world should thank the city of Drammen in Norway for helping to raise Martin Odegaard, who is the son of Hans Erik Odegaard and Lene Cecilie Odegaard. It’s interesting how Norwegian football became more well-known when the Arsenal leader became famous. This article talks about his humble beginnings, starting with how his father, a former football player who later led his son’s childhood team, taught him the game.
Looking at Martin Odegaard’s Path to Football Fame
The story of Martin Odegaard goes beyond his football stats and includes details about his youth, early life, parents Hans Erik (father) and Lene Cecilie (mother), family background, girlfriend Oda Burud, cars, way of life, and personal life. Here’s a picture of his life from childhood to job advancement to give you a taste of his interesting biography.
The Boyhood Years & Rise of Martin Odegaard: A Modern Playmaker
Odegaard is renowned for his exceptional footballing intelligence, adept at finding spaces on the pitch and maintaining a high work-rate. Renowned for his stamina and exceptional talent, the diminutive, quick-footed midfielder—a footballing prodigy is one of the best premier attacking midfielders of his generation. Despite the accolades and the buzz surrounding his name, the detailed biography of Martin Odegaard remains largely unexplored by many. Without further delay, let’s dive into his captivating story.
Martin Odegaard Childhood Story:
For bio starters, his nickname is El-Rey. Martin Ødegaard was born on the 17th day of December, year 1998, in the Norwegian city of Drammen, a municipality in the country’s Buskerud county. He was born to his mother, Lene Cecile, and to his father, Hans Erik.
Meet Martin Odegaard’s parents.
Martin Odegaard Family Origin:
The son of Lene Cecile and Hans Erik is a bonafide native of Drammen as well as a Norwegian national.
In fact, he has his family roots deeply established in the North European country, where he is the hottest young talent since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Joshua King.
He is a native of the city where he was born.
Growing-Up Years:
Martin Odegaard grew up in Toppenhaug, which is a small, quiet part of Drammen, in Norway. Interestingly, prior to Odegaard’s rise, people never associated the city with soccer.
As a matter of fact, it was only famous for fjords, mountains, picturesque valleys sprinkled with colourful wooden houses, thick snow, and Northern lights.
Childhood photo of Martin Odegaard with his older brother and sister.
Thus, the natives of Drammen have Odegaard to thank for putting their city on the map of soccer hotspots.
It was in the city that Odegaard began playing the sport while growing up alongside his two younger sisters, Emilie and Mari. plus big brother, Kristoffer.
Family Background:
By and large, Martin Odegaard had a happy, Sporty childhood and lacked nothing as a child. Though middle-class citizens, Odegaard’s parents and grandparents were into the clothing business.
In addition, his dad was into soccer management after years of being a professional. Therefore, it goes without saying that the massive money in the sport helped Odegaard’s family live comfortably.
Martin Odegaard Biography – Football Story:
At the age of six, El-Rey was already part of the local club Drammen Strong.
Interestingly, his parents, along with others, contributed a substantial amount of money to replace the club’s gravel field with artificial turf.
He has been into football since the age of six.
The investment proved pivotal to Odegaard’s development, enabling him to spend countless hours practising on the field.
As a result, when he joined the youth division of Strømsgodset, his father’s former team, young Odegaard had already honed his skills significantly.
His natural talent and strong work ethic effortlessly impressed coaches and staff alike.
The starlet at the peak of his career with Strømsgodset,
Early Years in Career Football:
When the then-fast-rising footballer eventually made his senior debut for Strømsgodset, little did his admirers know the sacrifices he was making.
To begin with, Martin Odegaard was still attending compulsory education, which meant he couldn’t train during the daytime with his club.
Instead, he trained at night after school. Nevertheless, he was already making regular appearances in the Norwegian top flight before his 16th birthday.
Furthermore, Martin Odegaard went on to establish himself as a goal scorer and top assist maker for both club and country.
He (left in both photos) was an asset to both club and country.
Impressed by his son’s early success, Hans Erik figured it was long overdue that his son played in the big leagues.
Thus, he took Odegaard to train with Europe’s top clubs, including Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and Arsenal, before settling on the biggest of them all — Real Madrid.
Road To Fame Story:
As the adage goes, if they’re good enough, they’re old enough. The then-teenage wonderkid Martin Odegaard was not too young to impress the Spanish giants.
In fact, he began training with Real Madrid’s superstars of the first team while he was still with Los Blanco’s reserves.
When the starlet eventually made his debut for the Los Blancos in 2015, one Legend was told to leave the field for the Norwegian. That person was no other than the great Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM.
He even made his debut as a substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, the fanfare around him began to plummet due to the lack of Real Madrid first-team opportunities under Rafael Benitez, who took charge of the senior set-up following the earlier dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti.
Neither did first-team opportunities come up for the teenager when Zinedine Zidane was promoted to first-team manager.
As a result, he was loaned to Dutch outfit SC Heerenveen, where he humbly had regular playtime away from the spotlight.
Martin Odegaard Biography – Rise To Fame Story:
Seemingly enmeshed in what can be best described as a loan farm, Odegaard was transferred to the Dutch side Vitesse.
He impressively became one of Eredivisie’s players of the season by scoring nine goals and registering 12 assists.
Interestingly, Los Blancos got more than they bargained for when the starlet was loaned to Real Sociedad in 2019.
He scored against his parent to knock them out of Copa del Rey in a 4-3 defeat. Stunned by the goal, fans of the Los Blancos could not help giving the youngster a standing ovation.
At the time of writing this piece on Martin Odegaard’s biography, the midfield maestro, alongside Joshua King and Alexander Sørloth, are recognized stars in Norwegian football. A new name to this list is the fast-rising Oscar Bobb.
More interestingly, Martin has joined Arsenal on a loan deal. Mikel Arteta knows of his track record and has faith that he will inject the much-needed creativity that the club’s midfield lacks.
Whichever way thing pans out in North London, the rest, as they say of the the good read detailing the rise, fall and return of Martin Odegaard, will be history.
See who has joined the Gunners on a loan deal.
Who is Oda Burud?
Most exciting young talents in football rarely have a romantic past. It is not the case of Martin Odegaard, who used to have a girlfriend.
Her name is Oda Burud. She is Norwegian and a soccer player. They used to be a romantic pair before the player’s move to Madrid.
We can’t say he is alien to matters of the heart.
Seems the midfielder got his priorities after joining Madrid, as not much has been heard about him and Burud.
The way we figure it, chances are that he is single. He could also be dating secretly. Whichever is the case, soccer abhors secrets, and it would not be long before netizens know about it.
Martin Odegaard Family Life:
Football geniuses are not born but made. It takes a family to make a genius like El-Rey. We bring you facts about Martin Odegaard’s parents. We will also make details of his siblings and relatives available here.
About Martin Odegaard’s Father:
Hans Erik is the superstar’s dad. As was previously stated, he used to be a professional football.
In fact, Erik played as a central midfielder for Norwegian clubs, Strømsgodset and Sandefjord before hanging his boots in 2006.
Martin Odegaard’s father, Erik.
The supportive dad is now into soccer management. He serves as his Odegaard agent and unofficial manager.
In addition, Erik ensures Odegaard goes through consistent practice regimes as he looks forward to a decade career ahead.
About Martin Odegaard’s Mother:
Lene Cecile is the starlet’s mom. She has a calm demeanour, which we believe Odegaard inherited.
Little wonder he ignored Sergio Ramos after the latter angrily called his mom foul names during the clash between Madrid and Sociedad.
Martin Odegaard with his mother.
Ramos’ abusive outburst came after Odegaard caught him on the shin with a late challenge, earning himself a yellow card.
If only the Skipper knew how lovely and supportive Odegaard’s mom is, he wouldn’t have said, ‘I s*** on your w**** mother.
About Martin Odegaard’s Siblings:
To start with, the midfielder has two sisters and an older brother. To start with his brother, his name is Kristoffer. He is a guard with an interest in body fitness.
Martin Odegaard with his older brother Kristoffer.
Meanwhile, there are little to no records of Odegaard’s sisters Emilie and Mari, who chose to live private lives.
We bet they are supportive of the starlet like his parents are. However, the sisters chose not to ride the tide of his fame.
Martin Odegaard with mother and sisters.
About Martin Odegaard Relatives:
Away from El-Rey’s immediate family life, we are curious to know about his grandparents. We bet he has uncles and aunts.
Who are they? Also, we would love to meet his cousins, nephews, and nieces.
Personal Life outside football:
Have you met anyone who is funny and easy to get along with? If yes, then you can easily relate to understanding Odegaard’s off-pitch personality. Are you a gamer? Then you have a friend in Odegaard.
Do you love chess? Give him a call! In addition, he also loves reading, making smoothies, and creating time to spare for hanging out with friends and family. Isn’t he a complete playmaker?
We were not kidding when we said he loves making smoothies.
Martin Odegaard Lifestyle:
In 2015, there was a teenage starlet whose weekly earnings were nothing short of $45,000, according to the New York Times. Can you guess the playmaker?
Yes, Odegaard! Fast forward to 2021, he earns and has a net worth of 4.7m Euros and will be earning £100,000 a week. The wage is double his £38,000 pay at Real Madrid.
For the sake of our collective sanity, it would be wise that we don’t fantasize about having such an enormous amount as weekly pay. We advise you not to imagine how many cars the 22-year-old has in his garage.
In addition, it will do our contentment a lot of good if we pretend that Odegaard’s house or apartment is not a million times better than the shelters we live in.
This photo speaks a thousand words. Doesn’t it?
Facts about Martin Odegaard:
To wrap up this exciting bio on the exciting player, here are facts you may not know about him.
FIFA Rating:
We strongly discourage comparing starlets with superstars, but we can’t help it right now. Odegaard has an overall rating of 83 points with a potential of 89, which makes him, alongside notables like Jamal Musiala and Jude Bellingham, close to the world’s best.
Impressive! isn’t it?
Like Erling Braut Haaland also has (92 potential ratings as of 2021), Odegaard’s impressive future stats justify every hype you have read and heard about him.
He is a colossus, a Norwegian treasure. We hope he attains this potential before his career peak.
Martin Odegaard’s Religion:
When it comes to matters of faith, Odegaard identifies as a Christian. In fact, He grew up in a Christian home and once told newsmen that religious faith is an important aspect of his life.
EndNote:
Here, we take pride in delivering accurate and fair Norwegian football stories. Have you read the Life Histories of Antonio Nusa and William Saliba? If you see anything that doesn’t look right, do well to contact us or leave a message below.
Thanks for reading this informative piece on Martin Odegaard’s childhood biography.
We hope that the midfielder’s exciting life story detailing his journey from the local slums of Norway to the Premier League has inspired you to believe that talents are not born but made.
Just like Martin Odegaard’s parents committed efforts and resources to his practice and overall development. It behoves us at this juncture to commend the midfielder’s parents for their support to his soccer career in words and deeds.
