CEO confirms Liverpool wanted to sign a young Martin Odegaard

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Liverpool wanted to sign a young Martin Odegaard, according to the CEO of his former club. The Reds ran into a problem, however.

Martin Odegaard may only be 23 years old but he’s already had an incredible career – and it could have been with Liverpool. The Norwegian was the hottest young prospect around at one point, after all.

The then-15-year-old was a revelation back in 2015. He broke records as the youngest player in Norwegian football and to play an international fixture for his country. Odegaard even featured in a European Championship Qualifier at just 15.

That kind of rapid rise is always going to bring suitors. Liverpool were one of them, says Strømsgodset CEO Magne Jordan Nilsen in an interview with the Mirror.

“The thing about all the interest, it was Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Arsenal, some of the Italian teams – every top team in Europe,” he said. “But the most impressive thing wasn’t just Martin’s technical ability, it was Martin’s and his family’s ability to stay grounded.”

Marketing manager Rune Marthinsen claims Odegaard liked what he saw from Liverpool, too – as well as then-Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp.

“He had a very good impression of Arsenal, Liverpool and he was impressed by Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund but he chose Real Madrid,” he said.

Martin Odegaard – what could have been at Liverpool

Klopp would move to Liverpool later that year, of course, and we can only imagine how Odegaard would have developed under him. We’ve seen plenty of players rapidly kick on at Anfield under the German, after all – Odegaard surely would have been one of them.

In a lot of ways, he could have been Harvey Elliott before Harvey Elliott. The teenager’s position change makes him more of an Odegaard type.

Instead, the Norwegian went to Real Madrid. That’s rarely been a club to develop at in peace and Odegaard did see his career stall quite dramatically with Los Blancos.

Now he’s at Arsenal – another club that wanted him in 2015. But we can’t help but wonder what might have been if he’d opted for Liverpool.