Martin Odegaard can’t hack it at Real Madrid’s B team, so Carlo Ancelotti has called him up to the senior side

This is unexpected

Martin Odegaard could make his Real Madrid debut against Almeria on Wednesday after manager Carlo Ancelotti called the 16-year-old into his senior squad for the first time. The Norwegian wunderkind chose to join Los Blancos from Stromsgodset in January after a whistlestop tour of Europe's major clubs, but has thus far been part of Real's B team, Castilla. The promotion is something of a surprise as Odegaard as struggled mightily at the lower level, falling out of favour with Castilla coach Zinedine Zidane and feeling the heat from an unimpressed Spanish press. The midfielder was brought up along with defender Diego Llorente and striker Borja Mayoral and could feature on the bench tomorrow evening.