Tuesday 14 April 2015 22:13, UK
Sixteen-year-old wonderkid Martin Odegaard was signed by Real Madrid in January amid huge expectations.
The Norweigan youngster was chased by many of Europe's big guns before the La Liga giants eventually secured his signature.
But it has not been smooth sailing for him so far in the Spanish capital. He has struggled for form and was dropped to the bench from Real Madrid's reserves by manager Zinedine Zidane.
Guillem Balague told Revista de la Liga's Periscope Q&A what he believes is going wrong with Odegaard, insisting the terms of the player's contract - which states he is entitled to train with the first team - are not working in practice.
He said: "Everyone followed him when he went around Europe with his father trying to tout him to clubs in a very weird way, and I wasn't sure whether that was the right thing to do.
"But (with Real Madrid) he had the opportunity to train with some of the best coaches and players in the world, despite the fact Lionel Messi is his favourite player of all time - check the social networks, he said it then deleted it.
His (Odegaard's) contract (where he can dictate his own terms of training) is not odd if you think of the business plan of Real Madrid - a club that is always looking for galacticos. He was THE galactico at 16.
"So he went to Madrid and the idea was, as it says in his contract, he would train with the first team but play with the B team (Castilla) under Zidane.
"That's all well and good on paper but it's not working in practice. He enjoys training during the week (with the first team) but then he goes with Castilla and he doesn't feel part of the whole structure of the team - and his team-mates aren't particularly helping.
"After consecutive defeats, he was left on the bench and didn't play a single minute for two games with Castilla - and they played wonderfully. He then started this weekend just gone, and with the team losing 1-0 he came off, before it finished 1-1.
"So there is something going on there. He's been asked three times if he wouldn't mind coming to train more with Castilla, but he believes he'd learn more with the first team.
"His contract (where he can dictate his own terms of training) is not odd if you think of the business plan of Real Madrid - a club that is always looking for galacticos. He was THE galactico at 16."
Balague says Real Madrid boss Ancelotti has been put under pressure to play the youngster - and it will be interesting to see how Zidane - who has been touted as a potential replacement for the Italian next season - handles the situation.
He added: "Carlo Ancelotti did complain at the beginning because people at the top of the club were pressuring him to call Odegaard up against Schalke for their Champions League last-16 second leg.
"But Ancelotti didn't because he feels he's not part of the first team, and he would have had to leave out another player who is.
"What is interesting is that Zidane is the one dealing with this. So it is up to him what happens next. It was down to Zidane to leave him out for two games at a time when there was pressure to play him.
"So Zidane is getting a taste of what it is to be a manager of Real Madrid."
