Real madrid signing Odegaard was just a show off - Ancelloti

Former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti claims the club’s signing of Martin Odegaard was just a show to boost their public relations.

The Spanish giants secured a deal to sign the midfielder from Stromsgodset in January 2015 when he was 16, beating a cluster of elite European clubs to his signature.

The teenage playmaker has gone on to make just a solitary senior appearance at the Madrid club, spending the majority of his time in the capital with the team’s reserves.In an extract from his book ‘Quiet Leadership’, Ancelotti wrote: “When Florentino Perez buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it.

“Furthermore, the president decided that he would play three games with the first team as a public relations exercise.

“He could be the best player in the world, but I don’t care because he was not a player who I asked for. That signing was to do with PR.”

The attacking midfielder has won nine international caps for Norway but is yet to find the net for his country.