Real Madrid boss Zidane expects Martin Odegaard to move on loan to secure more playing time

Zinedine Zidane has admitted that Martin Odegaard is expected to leave Real Madrid on loan before the end of the transfer window amid recent reports linking the starlet with Liverpool and West Ham. Yet, the French boss has left the 17-year-old out of his squad for the Uefa Super Cup against Sevilla on Tuesday night (9 August) despite Los Blancos playing in the teenager's homeland of Norway – and that Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale will also miss the game.

Odegaard was part of one of the biggest transfers sagas ever seen for a wunderkid when, in January 2015 a number of big European clubs tried to secure his services from Strømsgodset.

Real Madrid, Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Ajax and Liverpool themselves were linked with his services after he even visited training grounds with his parent before making a decision.

The Merseysiders were then believed to have an advantage at the time after the player revealed his passion for the Anfield outfit.

"Liverpool have always been my dream club. But I will not let this affect my decision when I choose a new team," Odegaard said then.

However, Real Madrid eventually beat other suitors for his services – after agreeing to meet Strømsgodset's demands – and gave the teenager the chance to train with the first team while playing for the reserve side, which was then managed by Zidane.

Yet, Odegaard has since failed to breakthrough into the first-team due to the huge competition for places in the Champions League winners.

Marca recently claimed that Liverpool were ready to take advantage of the situation and lure him to the Premier League, having already made an offer to the player. Yet, the Spanish publication claims that three clubs from the Bundesliga are also interested and the player could be tempted to move to Germany instead. The report added that some La Liga club also have made an approach to get his services on loan but Odegaard is likely to move to a foreign league instead.

AS, the other major Spanish sport publication, later added that there have been advances for the player to join with Bayer Leverkusenand or Hamburg but pointed out that Odegaard was waiting for a phonecall from Liverpool as it would be his priority destination.

Recent reports in England have claimed that West Ham are closely monitoring the situation and Zidane has now given the suitors a big boost after confirming that the player is definitely going to move somewhere else on loan in the coming days to secure more regular time.

"He's training with us. He completed pre-season and I'm happy with him. We'll have to decide what'll happen with him and up until 31 August anything can happen," Zidane said in the press conference ahead of the game with Sevilla, after deciding to leave the youngster out of the squad. "My thinking is that he's got to play. We know that at Real Madrid that'll be difficult because we've got a lot of players. That's the advice, that he gets some minutes."

The Real Madrid boss, meanwhile, was coy when asked about his opinion on Paul Pogba's record move to Manchester United after reports in Spain during the summer claimed that he had also earmarked his signing as a top priority for the current transfer window.

"I've got nothing to say, he's a Manchester United player and that's all there is to it," Zidane said. "I wish him all the best. That's the price they paid for him and that's that. We've got a lot of players in the middle of the park and I'm not going to be asking for another one. I don't know how we're going to go about making sure they all play. All of the players who remain at the club will be important ones, because the most important thing is the squad".