Martin Ødegaard made the right decision by signing for Real Madrid

Potential is the biggest commodity in sports. Teams will pay outrageous money for the notion of ‘what can you do for me in the future’ rather than a proven track record. An aged veteran will have a harder time than an up-and-coming youngster in terms of contract negotiations. The new and young thing will always be courted while the aging ones are discarded. This isn’t much different than business in every other aspect of life.

Martin Ødegaard, who just signed a contract Wednesday, is going to make an astronomical amount of money every week as an employee of Real Madrid, the richest football club of the past few years and an extremely rich company in general. Cynicism about this move seems to stem from not only his age, 16, but from the idea that his going to Real Madrid is a bad career decision. The argument is that Real is known for stockpiling young talent who never, or hardly ever, get first team opportunities. These players are then discarded for the next prodigy and forgotten as they play out the rest of their days in the abyss.

Ødegaard’s floor is higher than most footballers’ ceilings. Most would kill for the career that he’s going to have if he doesn’t succeed at the Bernabeu.

Fans seem to forget that a lot of wonderkids, for one reason or another, don’t grow up to become world beaters. It’s the same phenomena as the child geniuses in the regular population who flame out as they come of age. Ødegaard moving to Real gives him not only the chance to train with the world’s best players and maximize his talent, but sets him up for future job prospects. His talent and the prestige of playing for Real Madrid will work in combination to open doors for him if his current situation falls apart.

Could Ødegaard become more Royston Drenthe than Mata? Sure, but the former is more rare than the latter, and he could always become Raúl Gonzalez as well.

And then there’s the concern about his paycheck (£80,000 a week), which many find ridiculous for such a young player. But if there’s so much concern about him wasting away at Real Madrid, why is the amount that he’s making not a subject of praise? If he’s going to fail, at least he’ll be financially stable by the time his contract expires.

Or does the concern about his salary come in because young players don’t know how to control themselves around that type of money? That’s a nonsense notion since it is, regardless of anything else, money that they have earned. The wage is a reflection of their own value from their talent and hard work, it’s that simple. If they wish to waste the money and it becomes detrimental to their health, help should be offered, but does that mean he doesn’t deserve to get paid? In a business as unforgiving as football, a player’s contract should not be an object of derision.

The missing element in all of this is also the most obvious: Ødegaard is ridiculously good at football. At the age of 15, he was a full Norwegian international and playing 23 games for a first division side. Beyond his credentials, he is almost unbelievably confident and really, really good. Madrid’s initial outlay could make him a steal if he develops, and even if it doesn’t, they have enough money that this is essentially a zero-risk transaction. It’s a win-win situation for the player and for the club.

Football is business, and nothing earns you more than being young and talented. Ødegaard is a cherub bursting at the sides with potential. The decision he made is his and his family’s, and there’s no evidence against it being a sound one. If he fails, he will fail better than most. If he succeeds, the possibilities are endless. The only concern here should be if he’s going with matte black or all yellow for his first Lamborghini.