We’ve seen it before. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer urged Manchester United management to sign young striker Erling Haaland. The club management did not trust the United manager’s flair, and turned their backs on the Norwegian talent. A few years later, Haaland entered the Premier League scene and hammered in 52 goals in 53 games for city rivals City in the club’s first Treble. In Madrid, Real had another Norwegian talent, here it was Carlo Ancelotti who was the bend. They also failed to see the potential. United have paid for the blunder in season, after season, Real Madrid paid the big price in the Champions League arena.
In Ancelotti’s book “Quite Leadership”, the Italian writes: “When Florentino buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it. Furthermore, the president decided that Ødegaard should play three games with the first team as a PR exercise. He could be the best player in the world, but I didn’t care because he wasn’t a player I asked for. That signing was about PR,” Anclotti wrote.
READ: New signals from Manchester United in the striker hunt
So when Ancelotti returned as Real coach in 2021, it was no surprise that Real Madrid sold Ødegaard to Arsenal for £30 million. Ancelotti stated he had eight players in midfield ahead of Ødegaard in the playing time queue.
Last week, the same Ødegaard led Arsenal to a 3-0 victory in London. On Wednesday, the same Ødegaard led the Premier League club to an unheard of 1-2 result in Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti, the coach who since 2022 has been named the world’s best goalkeeper twice with two Champions League titles, was sent out of the biggest tournament by Arsenal, under the leadership of a Norwegian light bang Ancelotti had turned thumbs down to twice.
Read on F7: Real Madrid – Arsenal
