Having spent the last few weeks visiting each and every one of Europe’s footballing powerhouses (and Southampton), Martin Ødegaard’s great winter roadshow has finally come to a close. The winners of the biggest bidding war for a young footballing talent in recent memory? Real Madrid, who will pay Strømsgodset IF approximately $3.5 million for the Norwegian teenager’s services.
Martin Ødegaard at his signing (Photo: @matierrecalde | Twitter)
That’s a fairly modest fee for a player who could – could – become the next great attacking midfielder in world football. It certainly pales into insignificance compared to Ødegaard’s mind-blowing salary: Real have reportedly agreed to pay the 16-year-old $120,000 per week. In a country where youth unemployment stands at over 50%, that’s a quite bonkers level of remuneration.
Which got us thinking, and a little spiteful: When The18 was 16-years-old, it worked its ass off in a shoe factory for ten bucks an hour, week in, week out to buy a new bike. So what could Martin Ødegaard afford with $120,000 a week, but is too young to buy?
- Ødegaard could afford to buy one Porsche 911 Carrera GTS per week, or three Bugatti Veyron’s a year, but won’t be able to drive for another 11 months
- He could order 120 magnums of 1961 Dom Perignon Champagne, but won’t be able to drink them for another two years
- He could afford to buy 17,150 Euromillions lottery tickets, but if his numbers came up this weekend, he couldn’t collect his winnings
- Ødegaard has the wherewithal to hang a modest Andy Warhol print in his new Madrid apartment, but isn’t old enough to buy a Sharpie
- He could comfortably afford to bribe a Spanish politician (they’ll do plenty for much less than $120k), but he isn't able to vote
So there you go, Martin: the joke's on you. The18 is old enough to do all those things and more.
If only we could afford to…
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