Martin Odegaard feels at home at Arsenal

After a nomadic start to a fledgling career which is now starting to live up to early expectations Martin Odegaard feels he has found his “home” at Arsenal.

Making his first-team debut for Stromsgodset as a 15-year-old, still at school and unable to sign a professional contract, Odegaard quickly caught the eye of a number of top European clubs.

Training sessions at Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Liverpool would follow but it was Real Madrid who landed the teenager in January 2015.

Odegaard, having already made his senior Norway debut at 15, had the world at his feet but, like a tough-tackling defender, life would put in a number of challenges in an attempt to wrestle it away.

A post shared by Martin Ødegaard (@odegaard.98)

The playmaker who had broken records and made the transition into the men’s game while still a schoolboy was no longer getting things his own way.

Chances at Madrid were at a premium, loan spells to Holland – first with Heerenveen and later with Vitesse – were followed by a stint at Real Sociedad.

A sustained spell at the Bernabeu would never materialise and Odegaard would make just eight LaLiga appearances before a 2021 loan move to Arsenal was turned into a permanent deal last summer.

Asked by the PA news agency if he now felt more settled than ever, Odegaard replied: “Yes, definitely.

“I feel like I’m home now. I have had time to settle down – for the last five years I’ve been all over the place with loans here and there.

“So I feel like I’ve finally got that stability and the calmness I needed. So I’m really happy, yes.”

I feel like I'm home now. I have had time to settle down - for the last five years I've been all over the place with loans here and there.- Martin Odegaard

Having impressed