Real Madrid: 3 reasons why Martin Odegaard is vital for next season

Martin Odegaard can help with goals

Real Madrid 100 percent need a new primary goal-scorer. That’s why they are so intent on signing Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. This is a long-term problem that has persisted since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus, and the required solution is a young forward who can solve this issue over the long term by scoring 30 goals per season.

But Real also need better secondary options. Karim Benzema has been shouldering the load essentially on his own. This season, the player with the second-most goals in La Liga is a defensive midfielder, Casemiro. And last year, it was center back and penalty kick and free kick taker, Sergio Ramos. Hardly ideal.

Odegaard isn’t an electric goal-scorer, but he has the most goal-scoring potential of any midfielder or playmaker on the Real Madrid books. He scored four times with Real Sociedad last season and nine times with Vitesse in 2018-2019. And thus far with Arsenal, Odegaard has two goals, with one coming in the North London Derby and the other being a wonderstrike in the Europa League.

While Odegaard will mostly help with the creativity and passing, do not underestimate the 22-year-old’s ability to score from all sorts of angles and ranges. His left foot could be a big weapon in a No. 10 role, on the right side of the attack, or even, on occasion, the right side of the vaunted three-man midfield.