Florentino Perez's decision to sign a 16-year-old Martin Odegaard in January 2015 generated an awful lot of excitement within the world of football. However, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti wasn't in the least bit impressed.
"When Florentino buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it," the Italian wrote in his book 'Quite Leadership'. "Furthermore, the president decided that Odegaard would play three games with the first team as a public relations exercise. He could become the best player in the world, but I didn't care because he was not a player I asked for. That signing was about PR."
In that context, it's hardly surprising that Odegaard was sold to Arsenal for £30 million ($38m) shortly after Ancelotti returned for a second spell as Blancos boss in the summer of 2021. Odegaard had impressed while the coach had been away, but only while out on loan, and Ancelotti made it clear that he felt there were eight players ahead of the youngster in the midfield pecking order.
There have been times over the past four years when Odegaard's exit has made Ancelotti and Madrid look foolish - if not for the mere fact that they allowed him to leave at all, then certainly the knockdown fee. However, as Odegaard gets ready to face his former coach and club on Tuesday night, he once again has a point to prove - and not just to Ancelotti's Madrid, but Mikel Arteta's Arsenal too.