A survey by Comedy Central UK last year showed that parents embarrass their children, on average, a staggering 14 times a week. Pretty much everything about parental behaviour appears to be painfully humiliating these days, from “their age” to “their hobbies”, from “their dance moves” to the undeniable fact that they are, most of the time, “generally uncool”.

The worst offence, however, is the things parents say in public, whether it is shouting “I love you” at the school gate or telling their teenagers off in front of their friends.

In Norway, 15-year-old Martin Odegaard does not appear to have this problem. A few weeks ago his dad, Hans Erik, told the press that “more than 30 [of the best clubs in Europe] have made an inquiry” about his son. Whatever the opposite to embarrassing is for a 15-year-old, that comment probably sums it up. Which football loving boy or girl would not love to hear one of their parents say something like that?

That was on 30 July and the 15-year-old had, by then, started a mere four Norwegian league games for Stromsgodset, the club his father played for too. Since then, the interest in Odegaard has exploded. He has become a YouTube sensation and been interviewed by the international press. He has been called up by the Norway coach, Per-Mathias Hogmo, and is on Wednesday set to become the youngest ever player to represent his country, beating Tormod Kjellsen’s 104-year-old record.

It is, at this point, important to point out that Hogmo’s squad for the friendly against United Arab Emirates in Stavanger includes only one player playing abroad and, when the big guns return for the game against England next week, Odegaard will not keep his place (unless he is a late addition). The 15-year-old is not quite among the 23 best players in the country. Not just yet.

To the clubs (or vultures, whichever way you see it) circling around Odegaard, it does not matter. Last weekend, against Stabaek, more than 30 clubs had representatives at the Marienlyst Stadion to watch him play – among them, reportedly, Real Madrid and Liverpool. Stromsgodset lost 3-2 and there has, predictably and understandably, been a debate in Norway on whether such extreme exposure is good for such a young player. As someone pointed out, he does not need to buy a ticket on the local bus yet.

On the one hand there are those who say that if you are good enough, age should not provide a barrier – on either side of the spectrum – and on the other hand there are those who argue that Odegaard should be left alone to develop at his own rate. The Stromsgodset coach, David Nielsen, for one, is concerned that all the media attention is having an adverse effect on his players. “I am afraid that the team’s performances will drown in the attention on how Martin plays. First and foremost this is about the fact that we have other players who do a good job as well and that should be the focus rather than how one player does.”

The former Norway and Nottingham Forest midfielder Lars Bohinen, who made his international debut at 20, is among those who urge caution. “If you are good enough you are old enough but it is a bit different for a 15-year-old to fail,” he told the newspaper Aftenposten. “The attention that comes with playing for the national team is an added weight. He has to be guided carefully and slowly gain confidence.

“He is good enough as a player but there are other things to be factored in. I would, for example, protect myself from everything that’s on the outside. I wouldn’t read the papers and the websites. I would protect him as much as possible.”

Another former player, Tommy Svindal Larsen, who made his breakthrough when he was 16, warned that too many Norwegian players join a club abroad – and said that they should wait a bit longer and gain experience in the Elitserien.

“I don’t doubt that he is a very good player but I haven’t seen him myself,” he said. “We have to remember that there is a completely different level abroad and there are a lot of other aspects to consider when moving abroad. There are a lot of young players who have gone abroad and come home with skjegget i postkassen [their beards in the letter box].”

He has a point – who would want to get their facial hair stuck in a letter box? – but Hogmo, clearly, believes Odegaard can cope. “It’s fun to watch Martin play football. It is great that Norwegian football is producing players with such capacity,” he told VG. “I think the interest in him shows the enormous power of football these days and what a global market it has become. Every kick in all the leagues in Europe is being followed. It should be a tremendous motivation for young players who want to climb the ladder. The possibility to become a good player is there whether you are from Drammen, Lyn or Vadso. It is all about practising and practising a lot.”

A lot will depend on the support around Odegaard and his father has that reassuring Scandinavian calm about him, keen to see his son improve and do well but with the family’s feet firmly on the ground. Hans Erik, who said that the teenager has already visited Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Stuttgart, is making sure that all the attention does not get too much for Odegaard Jr. “We don’t have a timetable for him [to join a club abroad],” he told VG. “We just want Martin to develop. That has been the focus for several years and will be the focus for several years to come. If you start to think about other things then I think the development will stop. At the moment he is developing in Norway. He is 15 years old. And it is completely out of the question that he goes abroad on his own.”

Odegaard Sr added that he is a Liverpool supporter and said jokingly that he hopes “that we have brought him up well”.

For now, though, all the focus is on his possible debut for the national team. And perhaps the former Norway international Magne Hoseth used the most appropriate term when he was asked whether Hogmo should start Odegaard against United Arab Emirates: “It think it is just a question of throwing him to the wolves. I think he has so much football in him that he will cope.”

Odegaard, at 15, has certainly been thrown to the wolves. How he will cope we do not know and it is futile to guess. One can only hope that he continues to enjoy his football as much as he is at the moment and that he stays grounded, whether he ends up staying at Stromsgodset or joins Barcelona or Liverpool or Manchester United. In five years’ time we will know a lot more.