4 Dec 2014

Photo Proof: €15m 'God' who's 'like Xavi' in secret transfer trip to LFC today. Talks ongoing. LFC favourites

In October, Liverpool target Odegaard confirmed that he'd be making transfer 'visits' to several clubs this season in a bid to decide who to sign for 'in the future'. Well, true to his word, Odegaard is currently making the rounds, and today, he is reportedly in Liverpool to discuss the possibility of a January transfer.

Last month, €15m-rated Odegaard told reporters:

"There might be some club visits at the end of the season. I want to be sure about [my] choice in the future. You've got to visit them [possible clubs] and get a feeling about them".

According to multiple sources today:

* Odegaard is in town today to hold transfer talks with Liverpool.
* He has toured Melwood, Anfield, and Liverpool city center.
* LFC are allegedly in 'pole position' to sign Odegaard.

Here is proof that Odegaard is in Liverpool right now:





Rodgers has already acknowledged the Odegaard speculation, and when asked in his post-Madrid press conference about Liverpool's alleged interest, he told reporters:

"He [Odegaard] is a great talent, but that's all I'm going to say about player at another club"

Odegaard is a self-confessed Liverpool fan, and when asked recently about speculation linking him with a move to Anfield, he told Dagbladet:

“Liverpool is my favourite club. That is not to say that I dream to play for them. I’m thriving at Stromsgodset and feel that I can develop myself right here.”

Some info about Odegaard:

* Trained with Man United and Bayern Munich last year.
* Current contract expires in 2015.
* 5 goals/3 assists in 20 apps for Stromsgodset.
* Turns 16 in December.
* Real Madrid reportedly made a €15m bid over the summer.

* 2014: Broke 104-year old record to become the youngster player to ever feature for the Norway national team (15 years and 253 days).

* Broke another record recently when he became the youngest player to ever feature in a European Championship game.

Last month, Scandinavian football expert and scout Fabrizio Bertuzzi made the following bold claim about the Odegaard's ability:

"He is like Xavi and Andres Iniesta, and features a mix of both players. Despite being an adolescent he is almost a semi-god of football."

Odegaard is possibly Europe's most coveted young player right now, but he's not letting all the interest go to his head. In November, he mused:

"If you get carried away now, you won't get far in 10 years. I'm supposed to be at my best then, not now. That I know"

In theory, Liverpool should have an advantage when it comes to transfer negotiations, but in practice, personal allegiance rarely plays a part in a player's final decision. Plus, Odegaard recently hailed Bayern Munich as 'the best club in the world', which suggests the German giants are his preferred destination.

That said, Liverpool have a great opportunity here to sell the club, but if Odegaard has any sense, he won't come to Anfield. History shows that the young attacking players have practically zero chance of making it through the academy to become first team regulars.

Indeed, over the last 20 years, Michael Owen, Danny Murphy, and Raheem Sterling are the only players to graduate to regular first-team status, which is a sad indictment of the club's ability to properly develop promising young attacking players.

You only have to look at the struggles faced by players like Suso, Teixeira, and Ibe to see that Academy youngsters struggle to make the transition. Seriously, what chance does a 15-year old have? At Liverpool, Odegaard will probably toil away in the academy for three years before being farmed out on loan to some Z grade team. Harsh, but true.

Ajax is probably Odegaard's best option. The Dutch club's academy is inarguably one of the best in the world, and there's no better place to get a thorough grounding in the art of football.

Author:


20 comments:

  1. Ibe and Teixeira are poor examples of our academy failing. Ibe is still young and doesn't even start every game for Derby, so we can't just throw him into our team. Teixeira missed a full year of football at a key time due to back problems. Not really our fault.

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  2. Don't care, get him. You speak about how tough it is for us to attract elite players, so we need seize opportunities like this to sign brilliant youngsters who have the potential to be very world class.

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  3. Rafa missed out on Ronaldo. Get your facts right! It was Gerrard Houllier and Rick Parry!!....what bollocks are you talking!

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  4. F*** me dead pipe down screwdriver. Rafa, Houllier, Parry- whoever it may be, the point still stands

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  5. wow take it easy man

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  6. Odegaard is miles better than all the names mentioned in this article. He will be fast-tracked to the 1st team as he's already better than all the current 1st teamers.

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  7. Yeah, but most keep quiet because it was a Rafa blunder.

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  8. *checks date* Steven Gerrard, carra, flanno, fowler(OK more like 21 years but your timeframe was arbitrary anyway)

    Murphy wasn't even an academy product, not sure where you're getting these random names from...

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  9. My response a few weeks ago to a potential Martin Odegaard deal was f4ck that.Save the money.No more kids!
    I've changed my mind.I haven't seen much of him apart from YouTube clips, but every top club in football is after Odegaard which suggests he's something very special.
    The frustration in my last comment regarding this kid, was having to wait for him to develop into a player ready to make a impact on the first team.But like Livi said he'll most likely be fast-tracked.
    We need reinforcements now.However, there are players you have to make exceptions for.Thinking about the future on a player that's so highly rated by every big club can never be a bad thing.
    Martin Odegaard supports Liverpool so our negotiations team stand a good chance of getting a deal over the line.I want this to happen.

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  10. Exactly. If this kid goes to Madrid or somewhere and becomes the next big thing, we'll be beside ourselves. You need to make exceptions for players like him.

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  11. The thing is if these attacking players had left the club and developed into stars elsewhere one may say we cannot develop attacking players well.
    The real truth is we have just not had the star material in that time apologies to Sterling of course.

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  12. Actually Houllier wanted him the club said too much for a player that age damn Parry i reckon.

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  13. gerrard and carra both came from the academy in the last 20 years. and i reckon more. robbie fowler came from the academy I'm pretty sure in 1993 so 1 year to early but still. flanno played a full season and is only out due to injury and he came from the academy.


    compare us to a lot of top English clubs and we've got a pretty good conversion rate I reckon :D

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  14. I said attacking players; Carragher is not an attacking player. Plus, 1993 is more than 20 years ago. You're right about Gerrard, though - I forgot to include him.

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  15. Jamie I've seen you write the same old thing about youngsters not making it through Liverpool's academy. By your logic we should not bother having one! Do you expect every youngster being enrolled into the academy making it through to our first team? If we don't have one then how would we know who is capable of making it to the highest levels?
    What about Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd's academies how much talent are they bringing into their first team on a regular basis?
    I'm grateful your not our Director of Development!

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  16. He's to good for BR's choice who prefer below average players like borini,allen,lambert mignolet,loven and so on....unless Odegaard is willing to play badly or downgrading his skill.

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  17. Just because other clubs are terrible doesn't mean we should be. Over the years various Liverpool managers have brought lots if young players yet so far only sterling is making the grade.

    That's is by itself terrible

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  18. I agree with Aguero. He needs to play so let him stay in Norway for another year or two. If you're good enough, you're old enough and Sterling made his debut for us at 17 so I don't think he needs to wait very long. However, he's better off waiting those two years and playing in a senior league than with our reserves.

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  19. I don't comment often here but if the price is right the kid is worth the investment. Look how cortious, lukaku, hazard, DE bruyne worked out for Chelsea. They effectively only kept hazard and cortious for the first team and made good profit on the rest.
    Can go one of two ways - kids incredible and is playing first team in the next 2 years
    2. Kid struggles, we send him on loan, he impresses and we sell high. Win win.

    PS if Ayre is still head of football the sell high assumption is deeply flawed. We seriously need a director of football cause we have been giving away our players... Even Suarez at 65m is a giveaway price. If bale is worth 80 Suarez is worth more.

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  20. Either way no player of that ability is going to want to come to Club Managed by a man that sends Jordan Ibe out on loan after showing he's more than capable of playing in the Premier League like Raheem Sterling.
    Then Brendan Rogers goes out and spends £20 Million on Markovic who cannot play in the prem and hasn't shown any ability to do so thus far.


    If I were him and his father I'd opt for as Jaimie rightly points out Ajax which has a far far better Academy than we do and frankly speaking has a better Manager in De Boer than we do.

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