Pep Guardiola was reportedly very impressed when he had one current Arsenal star in training back in 2014.
Having coached Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City during his managerial career, the Spaniard has trained a significant number of players who have performed in the upper echelons of world football.
Now though, some behind-the-scenes details have emerged regarding one player who had one training session with Guardiola and caught the 53-year-old’s eye.
Guardiola was stunned by Arsenal player he trained in 2014
A report from The Athletic, which includes quotes from Bayern Munich’s former technical director Michael Reschke, had this to say on the matter.
It said: “‘I contacted the family to try to sign him for Leverkusen, and when I moved to Bayern Munich that summer (also as technical director) I tried to sign him there too,’ Reschke tells The Athletic.
“‘[Martin] Odegaard went on a Europe-wide tour, finishing his school day and hopping on a plane to trial at virtually every major club. That list included Arsenal and their opponents in this week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg Bayern, who Pep Guardiola managed at the time.’
“‘At 16, he trained with Pep, who was totally impressed after the first training,’ Reschke says.
“‘I came into the dressing room and Pep was talking about how intelligent he was and how he would improve — he was the type of player he loved. He was completely convinced. We were both pretty sure we wanted to sign him, but he had the decision between Real Madrid and Bayern.’
“‘I had a present in my life working with Pep for two years. I saw him work with players like Kingsley Coman and if you are a young, talented player there is one thing that is pretty sure: he will make you a better player — the best player you can possibly be. He is not from this world as a coach.’
“‘I am sure if Martin had worked with Pep, he would have made some steps earlier.’”
Imagine Martin Odegaard in this Man City team
In January 2015, Odegaard joined Real Madrid at the age of 16, before he eventually made his move to Arsenal on a permanent deal in the 2021 summer transfer window after spending the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan at the north London club.
During his time with the Gunners, the midfielder, who is now Arsenal’s captain, has made 146 appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side prior to tonight’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich.
Across those 146 games in all competitions, the 25-year-old, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £240k-a-week, has scored 34 goals and delivered 21 assists.
Now that it has been revealed that Guardiola was very impressed with Odegaard during the one training session he had at Bayern back in 2014, this makes us wonder what could have been if the Spaniard had signed him when he became City’s manager back in 2016.
