Martin Odegaard: “Liverpool have always been my dream club”

It’s easy to forget the Norwegian is still only 24. He was only 15 when he made his senior international debut in 2014, after all.

A boyhood Liverpool fan, the Reds were one of numerous sides the playmaker took in as a 15-year-old, even training with Brendan Rodgers’ first team squad

A year earlier, he had even referred to Liverpool as his ‘dream club’.

"Liverpool have always been my dream club, but I will not let this affect my decision when I choose a new club

"It's all about finding the team that is best for me and for my development. That is not necessarily Liverpool. I haven't really thought about my future yet.

With Odegaard in such fine form, the midfielder will be looking down a side he could easily have joined earlier in his career.

come 2015, the playmaker made his choice. Despite his boyhood Liverpool allegiances, Real Madrid was the club for him.

"I visited Liverpool, the two Manchester teams and they were all very nice but my choice was Real Madrid and I am very happy with that,” he admitted at the time. "Madrid is very good. It is the best place if you want to become a better footballer. I have been given the No 10 shirt (at Castilla) and it is a big responsibility having that number but it is the one that I like and I am just going to enjoy it."

Of course, it’s not only Liverpool who have their regrets regarding Odegaard. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has tried to sign him for Borussia Dortmund previously, only to be left disappointed by his decision to join Real Madrid.

"I really like him. It's easy these days,” the German told TV2 via Sport Witness last year. “It was a bit more difficult at the start of his career when he was at Real Madrid. Then it looked like it might not go his way. I was really disappointed by that because we wanted him in Dortmund when he was very young.

"We had a long conversation when he was still a boy, together with his father. In the end, he decided on Madrid, and that's fine, but that's why I've always followed him.

"It is very, very impressive. You can only imagine how many talents, huge talents, crazy talents, I have seen over the course of quite a while in this industry. At the time, Martin was 15 years old and already playing in Norway. The whole world went berserk.

"Until he was 15, he probably experienced no hardship. After that, a lot of things went against him. It makes him the person he is now, the man he is now, and the player he is now.

"I'm really happy that he has now become the player we all expected him to become. In fact, even better than that, if you will. He plays a massive role in an incredibly strong Arsenal team.

"He's still young, clear in his head, very influential. I honestly can't say anything negative about him. Really a top player."

When you consider Liverpool’s midfield woes this season, such a fact alongside Odegaard’s recent form makes that failure to sign him seem even more of a missed opportunity.