Martin Odegaard’s father was aware from a young age that their son was destined for greatness.
The future captain of Arsenal first showed promise as a young player at Stromsgodset in Norway, where his father Hans Erik played for more than 200 years. When he began working out with the first squad at the age of 13, the largest teams in the world soon came clamouring to sign the young talent.
And before the prodigy’s January 2015 transfer to La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid, Odegaard’s father did everything in his power to showcase his abilities. This included a direct appeal to the Football Manager developers to make sure his son was included in the game’s database.
Football Manager cannot include players younger than sixteen due to child protection laws, as studio director Miles Jacobson of Sports Interactive once explained. Nonetheless, Odegaard Sr. explicitly granted permission to involve his descendants.
“I got a message on Twitter asking if Martin Odegaard would be playing in the match. And I answered, “He can’t because he’s under 16.” ‘What will it take for him to be in the game?’ they inquired. I would require his parents’ consent,” Jacobson said.
“I got an image of Martin Odegaard’s father two days later, with him holding up a placard that read, ‘I approve for Martin to be in the game,’ signed by him. And social media’s incredible influence on it was evident.”
Jacobson continued by saying that when Odegaard, 25, found it difficult to advance at Real, the wits at FM worried they had made a mistake in their selection. Before officially joining the Gunners in 2021, he made just 11 first-team appearances for Los Blancos. He primarily played on loan at Heerenveen, Vitesse, Real Sociedad, and eventually Arsenal.
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