The reason Odegaard chose to sign for Real Madrid and not Barcelona Real Madrid Despite admiration for Messi

Kent Karlsen, an ex-Norwegian footballer and now agent, as revealed the reason that Martin Odegaard joined Real Madrid and not Barcelona.

Odegaard moved to Los Blancos in 2015 from Stromsgodset and has finally shown his true potential on loan at Real Sociedad this season, but things could have been very different for the 21-year-old should he have chosen another path.

"Barcelona invited us to La Masia," Karlsen told Cadena SER. "We were talking to [Andoni] Zubizarreta and he also invited us to watch a game at the Camp Nou.

"I think it was Barcelona-Ajax, so it was a very special night.

"Barcelona are a great club, but Martin [Odegaard] and his father took into account many things before making a decision.

"They visited many clubs, and in the end chose another."

Barcelona were given a transfer ban of two windows which was eventually severed in 2015, with a potential move for Odegaard falling exactly in the middle of that sanction.

"The transfer ban worked against Barcelona in their pursuit of Odegaard," Karlsen continued.

"If he had accepted their proposal he would have had to stay in Norway for another year, as Barcelona couldnt sign any players in 2015."

Eventually, Odegaard joined Real Madrid for a fee of three million euros, plus add ons which would take the deal up to a potential nine million euros.

"In the end [Real Madrid] offered the complete package," Karlsen went on. "They had designed a plan for Martin.

"He would train with the first team. It was a good plan. [Zinedine] Zidane was going to involve him a lot and the whole club presented a great project.

"In the end he followed his gut feeling."

One player Odegaard looked up to when he was a youngster was Lionel Messi, and has tried to emulate his style.

"Of course he would have loved to play with Messi," Karlsen stated, "as he was the player Martin looked up to when he was young.

"He tried to copy his passes, dribbles and way of seeing the game. I can't say he dreamt of playing with Messi, that is something I don't know.

"Obviously you can't compare any player to Messi. He is the best. So when you see Martin play, you can see that learning process and everything he took from Messi."