Real Madrid center attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard is coming off a sensational season at Real Sociedad, and he’s now become the most important player to watch in 2020.
Defensive midfielder Casemiro and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois were Real Madrid’s two most important players in the 2019-2020 season, leading the team through some tough times during an overall successful season.
Courtois’ clean sheets and big saves, as well as Casemiro’s elite defensive work and timely interventions helped Real overcome issues in their first transition year under Zinedine Zidane.
However, the most pivotal player to watch on Real Madrid in 2020 will be a player who didn’t spend the 2019-2020 season at the Santiago Bernabeu. And that player is Martin Odegaard.
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The Real Sociedad loan signing shined in both his games against Madrid, including a wild 4-3 Copa del Rey victory in the quarterfinals to knock his parent club out of the competition.
Odegaard was right alongside Lionel Messi as La Liga’s most creative attacking player.
The Norway international made passes in the final third that few could even see developing on their screens, helping the likes of Alexander Isak, Mikel Oyarzabal, Willian Jose, and Portu take their games to the next level.
Although Real Madrid have Isco and even James Rodriguez lurking, Odegaard is the future. In 2019-2020 at La Real, Odegaard showed that he’s already one of the best attacking midfielders not just in Spain, but in all of Europe.
An excellent presser and passer who can score long-range goals from nothing, Odegaard is the total package as a No. 10.
Per WhoScored.com, Odegaard averaged a whopping 2.3 key passes per game and 2.4 dribbles per game as the clear star for La Real. Defenses had a difficult time stopping Odegaard from either slicing through them with the ball at his feet or slicing through them with a deadly through ball.
Real Madrid need goals in 2020-2021, which is why they will target players like Erling Haaland, Sadio Mane, and Kylian Mbappe in the summer transfer market.
However, they also need assists and players who can create “big chances”. Per SofaScore.com, oft-criticized striker Karim Benzema was the team’s leader in assists and the only player with more than five assists on Los Blancos. And with seven “big chances created”, he and Toni Kroos were Real’s leaders but were both outside the league’s top 14 in this statistic. At a club like Real Madrid, that’s simply not good enough.
Odegaard is an exciting, intelligent, and game-changing talent who can control play in the final third and unlock the full potential in others. He could be the missing piece to help unleash fellow young teammates Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
But there’s no guarantee he returns to Real Madrid. It’s possible for Los Blancos and La Real to come to a mutual agreement to end his wildly successful loan spell one year early, replacing Odegaard with Takefusa Kubo, who is too good for La Liga bottom-feeders Mallorca.
Even if that doesn’t happen and Zindine Zidane and Co. prefer to take things slow with Odegaard, he is still the player to watch on Los Blancos. Because he is a prime candidate to take yet another leap in his career and potentially challenge Messi for the league’s player of the year honors. Yes, that’s how good he can be in 2020-2021.