Who exactly IS Real Madrid's new signing Martin Odegaard?

He’s 16 and he’s only played a handful of games for Stromsgodset, but that was enough to convince Real Madrid to sign Norwegian wunderkind Martin Odegaard. Here are a few things you might want to know about the guy everyone’s talking about. 1. The attacking midfielder was the youngest player ever to turn out for the senior Norway national team. He was 15 years and 253 days when he faced the United Arab Emirates last summer. (Terje Pedersen/Scanpix Norway/PA) 2. He broke a continental record that had stood for 31 years by becoming the youngest player to compete in a European Championship qualifier last September when he played in a 2-1 win over Bulgaria at the age of 15 years and 300 days. (Hakon Mosvold Larsen/AP/PA) 3. Should he play for Norway at next year’s European Championship he’ll break another record – the youngest player to appear in the finals is Holland’s Jetro Willems, who was 18 years and 71 days when he faced Denmark in Euro 2012. Jetro Willems, bottom left, will be hoping Norway don’t make it to the finals (Matthias Schrader/AP/PA) 4. Odegaard was given his league debut for Stromsgodset in the Norwegain top flight by Ronny Deila, now manager of Celtic, when he was 15 years and 117 days. Here the pair are together… (Vegard Grott/Scanpix Norway/PA) 5. One Englishman who’s known about him for a while is Brian Deane. The former Leeds striker was in charge of Sarpsborg when Odegaard scored his first league goal against him last May. He celebrated like this… (Vegard Grott/Scanpix Norway/PA) 6. Odegaard visited clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayern Munich before making the decision to sign for Real. The Odegaard saga continues with youngster reportedly training with Man City. @madridismoorg http://t.co/USP8IjX975 pic.twitter.com/Q9d5KnBryT — Football Collective (@fbcollectivecom) December 31, 2014 7. He was spotted at a Copa del Rey match between Real and Atletico Madrid earlier this month. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP/PA) 8. Odegaard is a Liverpool fan, but sadly for the Reds that didn’t swing it in their favour. Martin Odegaard: "I almost joined Liverpool, but in the end rejected them because they decided to ban selfie sticks." — The Futbol Joker (@TheFutbolJoker) January 22, 2015 9. He’s not just good at actual football – he’s also good at Fifa. Check out this video – he’s playing as Liverpool. 10. When he makes his debut, Odegaard will become the first Norwegian ever to play for Real. Yep – hard as it is to believe, they never signed Egil Ostenstad, Jostein Flo or Frank Strandli. History in making. First Norwegian to play for Real Madrid! — Skuggz (@Skuggz_LFC) January 21, 2015

Source: SNAPPA