Report: Real Madrid will offer Martin Ødegaard's father coaching position to lure starlet

When in a massive battle for the biggest up-and-coming name in world football, a club needs to pull out all of the stops in showing that young prospect that they are the best one to lead him into the future. For Bayern Munich, this is pretty easy. The Bavarians can show a player the club's stability, their track record with talented young players, and the fact that Pep Guardiola is their manager. These things are good enough to lure most talents from around the world.

Real Madrid has other ways of attracting top players - in this case Martin Ødegaard - to the Spanish capital. These "ways" include giving the player's father a job at the club. That's right. According to reports from Norway's VG and Germany's SportBild, Real Madrid will offer Hans-Erik Ødegaard, Martin's father, a coaching job at the club in the youth academy.

Yes, this isn't completely unheard of nor would it be completely out of place for the elder Ødegaard to take the position. He is currently an assistant coach at the newly promoted Norwegian side Mjøndalen IF who will compete in the Tippeligaen, Norway's top flight, for the first time in years in 2015.

But, that's not going to stop Carlo Ancelotti from saying the following to the media when asked if Madrid were going to sign Ødegaard. "Yes, he trained with us. He's a very skilled and promising young player, but we haven't made a decision yet."

On the other hand, Ødegaard and his agent Tore Pedersen maintain their stance to SportBild that no decision has been made at this time, but that the decision will come in January. So, maybe this race isn't over yet.