Early career In 2009, Ødegaard joined the youth division of Strømsgodset. He trained and played with older boys. The coach noted: "Handles things brilliantly. Good choices. Good touch, smart in position game".
Strømsgodset Ødegaard began training with the Strømsgodset first team in 2012, aged 13. He made his first-team debut the same year, in a mid-season friendly against local rivals
Mjøndalen IF. He also had short training visits to
Bayern Munich and
Manchester United. In 2013, at age 14, Ødegaard played for both Strømsgodset's junior team (normally aged 17–19), and the club's third team at the fifth tier of Norwegian senior football. In January 2014, it was agreed that 15-year-old Ødegaard would be part of Strømsgodset's first team for the year, but no professional contract was signed. The competition rules state that to play in
Tippeligaen, players must have a professional contract to be eligible. However, the club included Ødegaard on the "B-list" for amateur players, which made him eligible for up to three matches per season. Ødegaard was unable to train with Strømsgodset in the daytime since he was still in compulsory education. Thus, as part of the agreement, he trained two evenings a week with Mjøndalen IF, a semi-professional
First Division team at the time, where his father was one of the coaches. He made his league debut for Strømsgodset in a match against
Aalesunds FK at
Marienlyst Stadion on 13 April 2014. Aged 15 years and 118 days, he became the youngest footballer ever to play in Tippeligaen. On 5 May, he signed a professional contract with Strømsgodset, lasting until the end of 2015. This removed the restriction of three matches per season. Eleven days later, he scored his first professional goal and became the youngest goalscorer in Tippeligaen when he scored the fourth goal for Strømsgodset in a 4–1 home victory against
Sarpsborg 08 FF. He made his European debut on 16 July, replacing
Lars-Christopher Vilsvik for the final five minutes of the club's 1–0 home defeat to
Steaua București in the
UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. In late July, an away match at
Sandnes Ulf prompted serious discussion in national newspapers
VG,
Dagbladet and
Aftenposten, on his possible call-up to the
Norwegian national team. Ødegaard was involved in all three goals for his team, including a goal and an assist. He was also fouled for a penalty which was missed by a teammate. In the away match against
IK Start on 15 August the same year, Ødegaard was placed on the right wing, and made all three assists for Strømsgodset, who won 3–2. He scored two goals in a match for the first time in his career in the 2–1 win against
Lillestrøm SK on 19 October. Strømsgodset finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the first qualifying round of the
UEFA Europa League, with Ødegaard having scored 5 goals in 23 league games in addition to 7 assists. Bayern Munich and visited
Arsenal's
London Colney.
Real Madrid 2015–2017: Early Real Madrid career in 2015 On 21 January 2015, Real Madrid reached an agreement to sign Ødegaard from Strømsgodset, after training with the senior team earlier in the month. The fee reported by Spanish media was around €3 million. Norwegian media reported, however, that the fee was 35 million kroner (approximately €4 million), which could rise to 70–75 million kroner (approximately €8–8.5 million) on certain conditions. In a press conference after the signing, Real Madrid announced that Ødegaard would train with both the club's first team and the reserves,
Real Madrid Castilla. He would play for the latter team, which was managed by
Zinedine Zidane at the time. He made his unofficial debut for the reserves on 4 February, in a 3–3 friendly draw with
Beijing Guoan. He was subsequently named in the first team's Champions League squad. Ødegaard was assigned the number 21. His official debut for Castilla came on 8 February, coming on in the last 20 minutes as a substitute in the 2–2 draw against
Athletic Bilbao B in
Segunda División B. On 21 February, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win over
Barakaldo, opening the scoring after seven minutes. In April, Ødegaard was dropped from Castilla after a run of four defeats, with staff finding problems with him training with the first team while playing for the reserves, in addition to a language barrier. First-team manager
Carlo Ancelotti called for fans to be patient while Ødegaard settles in a new country. On 29 April, he was included in Real Madrid's matchday squad for the first time for a home
La Liga fixture against
Almería, as Ancelotti was without
Gareth Bale,
Luka Modrić, and
Karim Benzema through injury. However, he did not feature in the 3–0 victory. On 23 May, in the final fixture of the season, he made his debut for Real Madrid as a 58th-minute substitute for hat-trick scorer and then-reigning
Ballon d'Or winner
Cristiano Ronaldo in an eventual 7–3 home win over
Getafe. He became the youngest debutant in the history of the club at 16 years and 157 days old. Ødegaard was a regular starter for Castilla during the
2015–16 season. On 17 April 2016, he was praised in
Diario AS for his performance in a 3–0 home win over
SD Gernika Club, winning a penalty kick which
Mariano scored. The result put the team top of the table. The team won the group ahead of Barakaldo CF on the last day, with Ødegaard scoring his first of the season in a 6–1 win over
La Roda CF. Ødegaard made his first start for Real Madrid on 30 November 2016, 679 days after signing for the club. He played the full 90 minutes against
Cultural Leonesa in the
Copa del Rey round of 32 as Madrid won 6–1.
2017–2020: Loans in Netherlands and Spain On 10 January 2017, Dutch club
Heerenveen confirmed that Ødegaard had joined them on loan for 18 months. He had also been close to agreeing a deal with Barcelona, according to his agent, but the Catalan's club
transfer ban at the time proved a pivotal factor. He made his
Eredivisie debut four days later in a 2–0 home win over
ADO Den Haag, replacing
Arbër Zeneli in the last seconds. After the game, he spoke to
Fox Sports about how he was pleased with his new surroundings. His start to his time at Heerenveen was poor, having only one shot and one assist in his first seven games, and he was later confined to the substitutes' bench by manager
Jurgen Streppel. He scored his first goal for the
Frisians on 18 May in his 15th appearance, a 3–1 home loss to
Utrecht in the first-leg of a play-off semi-final (5–2 aggregate). In the 2017–18 season, Ødegaard became a regular starter. He scored his first regular-season goal for Heerenveen on 18 November 2017, in a 4–0 win against
Twente. On 21 August 2018, Real Madrid announced that Ødegaard would be loaned again for the 2018–19 season, joining another Eredivisie club,
Vitesse. He managed to score 11 goals and 12 assists in his season with Vitesse, he was also voted as the club's player of the year by the fans. On 5 July 2019, he was loaned to
Real Sociedad for one season, with Real Madrid retaining the option to recall the player or extend the loan for an additional season after the first year. On 14 September, he scored his second goal for the club in a 2–0 home victory over
Atletico Madrid at the
Anoeta Stadium, in what was regarded by pundits as a
man-of-the-match performance. He registered his first assist with a 20-yard line-breaking pass to
Mikel Oyarzabal against fellow Basques
Deportivo Alavés, in a move praised by fans and pundits alike for its technique. In September 2019, Ødegaard was named
La Liga Player of the Month. in 2020 In February 2020, he scored against Real Madrid to help his loan club eliminate his parent club in the quarter-finals of
Copa del Rey. Real Sociedad reached the final of the competition, but it was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Spain; they also qualified for the
UEFA Europa League after finishing sixth in
La Liga and the season was a successful one for Ødegaard on a personal level. He missed the end of the season having been diagnosed in June with
tendinopathy, a problem that had also occurred some months earlier. After being recalled from loan by Real Madrid in 2020, Ødegaard started the club's opening game of the
2020–21 La Liga season away to Real Sociedad, in a 0–0 draw. On 25 November, he made his Champions League debut for Real Madrid in a 2–0 away win over
Inter Milan.
Arsenal 2020–21: Midseason loan After making only nine appearances during Real Madrid's opening half of the
season following his loan spell at Real Sociedad, Ødegaard made it clear he wanted to leave the club during the winter
transfer window in search of first-team football. On 27 January 2021, Ødegaard joined English
Premier League club Arsenal on loan until the end of the season. He admired the club's direction and the team's style of play, from which he decided that Arsenal would be "a club that really suits me well." On 14 February, he made his first league start for Arsenal in a 4–2 home win over
Leeds United. On 11 March, Ødegaard scored his first goal for Arsenal with a 20-yard strike in a 3–1 away win over
Olympiacos in the first leg of the
Europa League round of 16 tie. That goal was later voted as the Arsenal Goal of the Month. On 14 March, Ødegaard scored in back-to-back games, picking up his first Premier League goal in Arsenal's 2–1 home win over
Tottenham Hotspur in the 203rd
North London derby. Ødegaard was voted as Arsenal's Player of the Month for March 2021.
2021–present: Permanent transfer and club captaincy in 2021 On 20 August 2021, Arsenal announced the permanent signing of Ødegaard in a deal worth €35 million with potential add-ons rising to around €40 million. Ødegaard signed a four-year deal until 2025 with the club having an option to extend for a fifth year. He would make his first appearance of the season in a 5–0 away defeat against
Manchester City. He scored his first goal of the season with a
free-kick in a 1–0 away win against
Burnley, giving Arsenal back-to-back wins. On 18 December, Ødegaard notched his first assist of the season in a 4–1 away victory against
Leeds United. He ended the month with three goals and three assists in six matches, and was nominated for the
Premier League Player of the Month award. At the end of the season, Arsenal finished
their Premier League season in fifth place, just missing out on UEFA Champions League football for the following season. in 2022 Following the departures of previous
club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and interim captain
Alexandre Lacazette, Arteta named Ødegaard as the new captain for Arsenal ahead of the
2022–23 season. He made his first appearance as captain in the club's Premier League season opener against
Crystal Palace, which Arsenal won 2–0. On 21 August 2022, Ødegaard scored twice in an away win against
Bournemouth in the first 11 minutes of the game. On 12 November, during Arsenal's final Premier League fixture before the
2022 FIFA World Cup break, Ødegaard scored a brace against
Wolverhampton Wanderers at the
Molineux Stadium to keep Arsenal at the top of the league table by five points. On 26 December, Ødegaard provided two assists in Arsenal's first match since the conclusion of the World Cup, a 3–1 win over
West Ham United. Ødegaard would win the
Premier League Player of the Month award for
November/December 2022. On 15 January 2023, Ødegaard's first-half strike guided Arsenal to a 2–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, which was Arsenal's first away win against their rivals in the Premier League since 2014. On 13 March, he was awarded the
Premier League Player of the Year award at the 2023 London Football Awards. On 2 May, Ødegaard scored a first-half brace against Chelsea, leading his team to a 3–1 victory. At the conclusion of the season, Ødegaard was voted
Arsenal Player of the Season, and was also nominated for the
Premier League Player of the Season,
Premier League Young Player of the Season and the
FWA Footballer of the Year. He was also named in the
PFA Team of the Year. On 20 September, Ødegaard scored his first
Champions League goal in a 4–0 win over
PSV Eindhoven, which was Arsenal's first appearance in the competition since 2017. On 22 September, Ødegaard signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, saying it "was a really easy decision" and "I've found a place where I can be really settled and call my home." On 11 February 2024, in a 6–0 away win against West Ham United, Ødegaard became the first player on record since
2003–04 to complete 100+ passes (107), create at least five chances (7), and assist multiple goals (2) in the same Premier League match. On 12 March, he played a crucial role in leading Arsenal to a 1–1 on agg., 4–2 on penalties victory over Porto, providing the assist for Arsenal's equaliser in the tie and helping to seal their progression to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years. On 23 April, Ødegaard was instrumental in a 5–0 home victory against Chelsea, assisting their third and fifth goals, and became the first Arsenal player since
Mesut Özil to create eight chances from open play in a Premier League match. He ended the season as the player with the most chances created from open play in the 2023–24 Premier League season, with 88. Ødegaard was confirmed as Arsenal's Player of the Season following the end of the season, winning the award for the second time in a row. On 28 September 2025, Ødegaard was impactful as a late substitute in an eventual 2–1 away win against
Newcastle United, providing the assist from a corner for
Gabriel's 96th minute winner. Three days later on 1 October, he was involved in both goals as Arsenal beat Olympiacos 2–0. Ødegaard scored from the edge of the box in the 14th minute of a 2–1 home victory against Brighton on 27 December. On 30 December, he provided the through-ball for
Zubimendi's goal in Arsenal's 4–1 home win over
Aston Villa. On 3 January 2026, Ødegaard played a part in two of Arsenal's three goals away to Bournemouth, earning an assist for the second. On 31 January, he assisted the fourth goal in a 4–0 win away against Leeds. Ødegaard provided a 94th minute assist as Arsenal made it four consecutive away wins at Tottenham on 22 February. ==International career==