Norwegian teen prodigy Oedegaard joins Real Madrid to become latest 'Galactico'

A complete unknown only a year ago Norwegian prodigy Martin Oedegaards transfer to Real Madrid has set his fledgling career soaring towards the summitsThe young forward had long been courted by some of Europes top clubs Real Bayern Munich Arsenal and Liverpool were all according to press reports in the race to sign the teenager Finally a deal with the Spanish giants was announced Thursday clearing the way for him to join a number of world stars in midfieldThe wonderkid has reportedly signed a sixyeardeal at the Santiago Bernabeu which will cost the European champions up to a reported four million eurosMartin Oedegaard Norways youngest player ever in the national football team controls the ball on August 27 2014Norwegian press sports suggested the teen would spend the spring playing for Castilla the clubs youth team coached by former world champion Zinedine Zidane and join the first teams reputed stars Cristiano Ronaldo Gareth Bale James Rodriguez Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema after the summerA dream come true for a boy who just celebrated his 16th birthday on December 17 The rapid turn of events will not be unfamiliar to Oedegaard who already has three international appearances for Norway to his nameWhen he joined the first team of Stroemsgodset the club of his native city of Drammen in April 2014 he became the youngest player to ever play in the Norwegian first division A month later he became the leagues youngest scorerOedegaard scored five goals and provided seven assists in his 23 games for the club His prowess quickly drew attention as videos of the then 15yearold running circles around his opponents created an online buzz that spread to the Scandinavian sports pressHe was soon called up to the national team where he broke new records Oedegaard became the youngest Norwegian international in history in August only 15 years and 253 days old and later the youngest ever to feature in a European Championship qualifier in October against BulgariaHe has developed enormously in a short time He brought down barriers that I think neither he nor anyone else imagined would fall Norway manager PerMathias Hoegmo recently told the Aftenposten daily His way of playing his talent his ability to make choices and think all of this is impressive he added His gifts have not gone unnoticed around Europe Many of the continents greatest clubs have reportedly been interested in signing the NorwegianPress reports linked Ajax Amsterdam with an imminent deal while others said Bayern was first in line The German teams president the legendary KarlHeinz Rummenigge said Oedegaard was the talent of the century The teenager and his father Hans Erik himself a former professional toured several clubs over recent months to visit facilities and meet senior representatives Hans Eriks demand was for his son not to spend time with the reserves of a great team but to train and play with the bestAccording to sports media Zidane played a key role in convincing the Norwegian to start out at Castilla in the Spanish third division before joining the first team His future teammates already await his arrival A good player I think hes a young boy he can still grow Ronaldo said of his new teammateHe has a good future ahead So we must give him time to learn to take the best decisions but I see a lot of potential in that player he added before picking up his third Ballon dOr award So we must give him time to learn to take the best decisions but I see a lot of potential in that player A good left foot