Real Madrid youngster Martin Odegaard has been named in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad to face Almeria on Wednesday night for the first time since joining in January.
The 16-year-old has spent much of his time with the Spanish giants training with the first team, but Ancelotti is expected to hand the teen his first minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu in their upcoming La Liga clash, Sky Sports report.
READ MORE:
Martin Odegaard: Guillem Balague sheds light on what’s really going with Real Madrid wonderkid
Real are without a number of key players – with injured trio Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema to miss out, while Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal are both suspended – resulting in Ancelotti having to call upon three players from the youth team who could all get a chance to play.
“Tomorrow in the squad there will be three youth-team players,” the Italian confirmed.
“Odegaard, (Borja) Mayoral and Diego Llorente. I think two of the three will be on the bench and they could get an opportunity to play.”
As part of Odegaard’s contract, the youngster trains with the first team, but plays for Zinedine Zidane’s Castilla side, as divulged by Spanish football expert Guillem Balague. This arrangement had begun to show signs that it wasn’t working, as Zidane has been unimpressed with the Norwegian’s performances, dropping him to the bench.
Nonetheless, if handed the opportunity by Ancelotti, there would be no better place to silence any critics than at the Santiago Bernabeu.