Real Madrid starlet Martin Odegaard agrees loan move to Heerenveen

Real Madrid starlet Martin Odegaard has agreed a loan move to Heerenveen. The Eredivisie side have confirmed the deal after unveiling the player in front of the media on Tuesday morning (10 January).

Reports in Spain are claiming that the deal is until the summer of 2018 but Real Madrid have an option to recall him in the summer should the player fail to secure regular time in the Eredivisie.

The Champions League winners signed the 18-year-old playmaker in January 2015 after beating other European suitors in one of the biggest transfer sagas ever seen for a wunderkid.

Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Ajax and Liverpool were all linked with his services. The Norwegian talent and his father then visited the training grounds of a number of clubs before making a decision. Eventually Los Blancos convinced him to move to the prolific Valdebebas academy after offering him the chance to train with the first team alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and co, paying around £3.5m ($4.25m, €4m) to Strømsgodset to secure his services.

Odegaard has since made 62 appearance for the Real Madrid second team, scoring five goals and providing six assists.

However, he has failed to make the breakthrough into the first team due to the huge competition for players in Zinedine Zidane's ranks, being restricted to only two appearances with the senior squad, including one in the recent Copa del Rey 6-1 victory over Cultural Deportivo Leonesa.

Real Madrid have thus decided to send him on loan to Heerenveen in order to give him some first team football.

The Norwegian starlet was already heavily linked with the likes of West Ham, Liverpool, Stade Rennais, Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg during the summer transfer window but he will instead continue his development in the fourth-placed team of the Eredivisie.

Odegaard's move to Heerenveen is Real Madrid's first transfer of the current January window but Los Blancos are not expected to make much more business this month. Mariano, another talented striker, could also leave the club on loan but James Rodriguez recently revealed that he wants to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu until the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Zidane's side are unable to sign any player during this window due to their Fifa embargo.