Manchester United were in the running to sign Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard when he was a teenage sensation from Norway taking the football world by storm.
United, like many other major European clubs, missed out on Odegaard, a player who now leads Arsenal’s title race.
Going into Sunday’s game against Arsenal, the Gunners sit at the top of the table enjoying a five-point gap between themselves and Manchester City.
Central to his success this season is Odegarrd, who The Athletic reported as Louis van Gaal was keen to re-sign in 2014.
Athletic says that Van Gaal took a plane to Norway in an attempt to convince the young star and his family to choose Old Trafford over clubs like Manchester City, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Liverpool.
At 14, Odegaard had already spent time at United, where he trained for three days at the academy.
“A year later, the scouting reports were so impressive that United made a high-level decision that there was no need to offer him a test.
“They just wanted to sign him.”
Odegaard ultimately chose the Santiago Bernabéu and moved to Real Madrid, which did not go as planned.
Unlike many other teams who courted the player intensely but could not promise him an immediate path to the first team, Madrid assured him that he would train with and be surrounded by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
However, in a star-studded midfield, Odegaard failed to break through in the team. He trained with the Madrid galacticos during the week but played for the B team of the Spanish team on weekends.
He ended up making just 11 senior appearances for Los Blancos.
Athletic details that Van Gaal repeatedly told the player and his representatives that moving to Madrid would be a big mistake and that he needed a “proper education” such as Old Trafford could provide.
Van Gaal, in an email disclosure to The Athletic, claimed that after this interaction and telling Odegaard he will not immediately train with the first team, he never heard from the player and his people again.
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