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Former Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has claimed he stood up to Blancos president Florentino Perez over the "public relations" signing of much-hyped wonderkid Martin Odegaard. Odegaard joined Madrid soon after his 16th birthday in January 2015, having been courted by a long list of top clubs including Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Southampton and Ajax. The deal agreed with the player, his father and former club Stromsgodset, saw Madrid pay a reported fee which could rise to €8 million, with the Norway international's contract including a clause which saw him train with first-team stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. Odegaard was subsequently added to Madrid's Champions League squad but Ancelotti regularly spoke about the need for the young player to bide his time and learn his trade. A first-team debut did not come until the last game of the 2014-15 season, when he replaced Ronaldo during a 7-3 win over Getafe, and became the youngest player ever to represent Real Madrid in La Liga. In an excerpt from his new book, "Quiet Leadership: Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches," picked up by AS, the now Bayern Munich coach claimed that Madrid chief Perez had wanted Odegaard to play for the first team for marketing reasons. "When Florentino buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it," Ancelotti wrote. "Furthermore, the president decided that he would play three games with the first team as a public relations exercise. He could be the best player in the world, but I don't care because he was not a player who I asked for. That signing was to do with PR." Odegaard also struggled to make an impact at reserve level after arriving in Spain, being eventually dropped by then-Castilla coach Zinedine Zidane, despite being a full international for Norway. When Zidane was promoted to the first team, successor Luis Miguel Ramis was also not impressed as the youngster scored just one goal in total during 2015-16, and was left on the bench for key playoff games late in the campaign. With Castilla having failed for a second year running to clinch promotion to the Segunda Division, AS say the plan for Odegaard's development is to go on loan next season to gain more experience, with the now 17-year-old's father favouring a move to a Premier League or Bundesliga side.
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