The phrase "burst on to the scene" is arguably coined far more than it should be nowadays, but Martin Odegaard is one of the few players who truly did announce himself to the footballing world in style.
Boasting talent that defied his years, the mercurial Norwegian playmaker started to train with senior professionals in 2012 when he was just 13.
Two years later, he made history for his hometown side Strømsgodset when he came off the bench in a first-team league game at 15.
It sparked attention from seemingly the entire footballing world, with the eyes of plenty of European giants now focused firmly on the port city of Drammen, Norway to see what all the fuss was about.
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The home faithful may have been surprised by the fact a baby-faced teenager who still had at least another year at school to go was running things in their midfield, but it came as no shock to those who knew him best.
Mirror Football spoke exclusively to two prominent figures in the Strømsgodset hierarchy who witnessed Odegaard's rise to footballing superstardom first-hand.
Club Chief Executive Officer Magne Jordan Nilsen recalled the first time he could tell the current Arsenal man was unlike any other youth prospect he had seen before.
"I remember the pre-season before when he was 15 years old he was with us for pre-season in Marbella and he played against a Hungarian team, he played as a 6 in the centre of midfield and he totally dominated the game," he explained.
"Martin was just 15, and he totally dominated the game and I remember the coaches and players said ‘this thing that we have just experienced now, we will never see again in our lifetime – this will never happen again.’
"I didn’t want to tell anyone as they were going to sign him straight away," Nilsen joked.
"He played like a 30-year-old superstar at 15."
Rune Marthinsen is Strømsgodset's marketing manager and revealed how in-demand Odegaard was even two years prior.
"My first experience of how good he was when he 13 years old and had his [non-competitive] debut.
"We had sponsors who wanted to sign him when he was 13 years old, I don’t think very many people in Drammen had heard about him but Diadora, Adidas and Nike all wanted him.
"Martin was something no one in Norway had ever seen before."
He made the transition from pre-season friendlies to top-flight league action seamlessly according to Marthinsen.
"I think it was the fourth or fifth game for us he played against a 37-year-old mountain of a man and he made a fool of him, he scored twice, it was a special match and moment for all of us."
While it is often the case that young talent from lesser known clubs will eventually attract interest from bigger names, Odegaard sparked a level of unprecedented attention, as Marthinsen revealed.
"I know we had 63 emails from foreign clubs, Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Liverpool, everyone, that was maybe when he was 14/15 years old."
Nilsen went on to explain that the white-hot spotlight now on an adolescent Odegaard did not faze the teenager.
"The thing about all the interest, it was Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Arsenal, some of the Italian teams – every top team in Europe, but the most impressive thing wasn’t just Martin’s technical ability, it was Martin’s and his family’s ability to stay grounded.
"He was on the front of every paper here every day, the media was at their home knocking on the door – everyone wanted a piece of Martin.
"He just stayed calm and focused on becoming a better player, that was the most impressive thing for me."
Though it was quite the whirlwind, Odegaard's time in the Strømsgodset first-team set up was to end rather abruptly when Spanish giants Real Madrid came knocking.
Images of the teen holding up the iconic white shirt were on the back pages of every sporting outlet in Spain and indeed all over Europe.
It was a move that ultimately failed to live up to the extraordinary hype as Odegaard struggled to break into the Los Blancos first-team on a regular basis.
Marthinsen insists that Odegaard kept his options open while at Strømsgodset, but the bright lights of Madrid proved too tempting.
"Arsene Wenger was very interested, Arsenal was a Puma-sponsored club in those days and we are also Puma, but when Real Madrid is calling what do you do? They are the biggest club in the world.
"He had a very good impression of Arsenal, Liverpool and he was impressed by Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund but he chose Real Madrid."
While he was always signed with a view to the future, he did not make his first start for the Real Madrid senior team until 679 days after his arrival.
He embarked on four different loan spells while on the books at the Santiago Bernabeu, but it was to be the final one that revived his flatlining career.
Odegaard eventually did join Premier League titans Arsenal on loan in January of 2021, where he subsequently impressed in his six month trial period.
So much so, that Gunners manager Mikel Arteta was desperate to entice him back to the Emirates on a permanent basis and in August of last year the Spaniard got his wish.
Since joining for good, Odegaard has barely looked back and is currently being touted with the vacant Arsenal captaincy role for next season.
According to Nilsen, he is already one of the best in England.
"It is impossible to say what would have happened if he had gone straight to Arsenal, but Martin is now one of the best midfield players in the Premier League right now."
Still only 23 years of age, Odegaard has already experienced things most would struggle to cram into their entire career.
He has dealt with the fame of being the teenage wonderkid, he has overcome the flop accusations when it didn't work out in Spain and he is now spearheading Arsenal's top four tilt.
Perhaps it is down to the level of love he feels in north London, rather than the exiled treatment he received at times in Madrid.
As Marthinsen said when analysing Odegaard's recent run of stellar form in the Premier League - "When he has got an environment that trust him and he trusts them, the world is there for him, he is very very special."
