Pep Guardiola may have prevented Martin Odegaard from moving

Pep Guardiola once prevented a possible move from Martin Odegaard (24) to Bayern Munich with his own career planning. This was revealed by the former Bundesliga player and today’s expert Jan Aage Fjörtoft in the sports picture.

The Norwegian Ödegaard, who is causing a sensation at Arsenal FC today, was already considered one of the top talents in world football at the end of 2014. The top European clubs were queuing up for the then 16-year-old, and he was also a guest at FC Bayern several times for trial training.

At the Bayern winter training camp in Qatar in 2015, there was a conversation between the then FCB coach Guardiola and Ödegaard’s compatriot Fjörtoft.

“When I was with Bayern at the training camp in Qatar, Pep Guardiola came up to me, put his finger on my chest and said: ‘You have to bring him to Bayern, I’ll make him the best player in the world’,” recalled Fjörtoft now returns to the conversation: “I answered: ‘There is a problem, because you will soon be leaving Bayern Munich yourself.’ Then he was suddenly very quiet,” Fjörtoft continued.

In fact, Guardiola’s time at Bayern ended in the summer of 2016 when he didn’t renew his expiring contract and instead joined Manchester City. Would another career plan by the Spaniard Ödegaard have convinced him to move to Munich? Difficult to say, because in January 2015, just a few days after the said conversation between Guardiola and Fjörtoft, the teenager had already decided for Real Madrid.

Odegaard was not able to assert himself with the royal team, but he repeatedly showed his great talent at various loan stations. After initially playing for Arsenal on loan last season, manager Mikel Arteta finally sought a permanent commitment in the summer. The Gunners managed this for 35 million euros, the playmaker is now captain and one of the faces of the London club’s outstanding season.