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Guillem Balague answers YOUR questions on Martin Odegaard, Dani Parejo and Xavi

Sky Sports' Spanish football expert and Revista de La Liga pundit Guillem Balague blogs each week on skysports.com. He also answers readers' questions. Send in yours by tweeting @revistadelaliga

How is Martin Odegaard settling in at Real Madrid? Thanks, Laurence

GUILLEM SAYS: Martin Odegaard is settling into life at the Bernabeu very well. He scored his first goal at the weekend for Real Madrid's Castilla side and now everyone is really starting to see how important he is to the team.

Martin Odegaard of Real Madrid Castilla celebrates after scoring his team's opening goal during the Segunda Division B match
Image: Martin Odegaard

He is playing in a roaming role behind the striker for Real Madrid B and always wants the ball. There’s absolutely no argument he belongs to a completely different level than the Segunda Division B. They will fight to get promotion and he will certainly help with that. I don’t see him playing with the senior side just yet, though...

Hola Guillem. Can you give us the latest on Muniain as he is a superb player and has all the qualities a top team would want from a young player? Also, what are Barca's plans with Deulofeu and Tello? And would there be any possibility of Xavi becoming Luis Enrique's assistant next year or the year after? 

GUILLAM SAYS: Muniain has stopped progressing since Atheltic Bilbao’s dip in performances so he will stay at the San Mamés Stadium to find his form.

Barcelona's coach Luis Enrique talks with Barcelona's midfielder Xavi Hernandez during the Spanish Copa del Rey
Image: Xavi and Luis Enrique

As for Tello, the idea is for him to be sold. Of course he is on loan at Porto at the moment but Barca are open to offers.

Deulofeu, meanwhile, is a very interesting case of someone who has got a lot of talent but doesn’t seem to have the mentality to take advantage of that talent. It’s a real disappointment.

Lastly, I think it’s a little bit early for Xavi to become Luis Enrique’s number two. Xavi has to go out and learn the trade. Playing and coaching are two totally different things and I just don’t agree with the idea about jumping from being a player to a coach straight away.

You have to learn the trade like Gareth Southgate did. He didn’t at first but he is doing it now. He realised he needed to learn much more before he could become a pro manager. He’s still learning. Xavi has to do the same and importantly plans to do exactly the same.

Guillem, How much have you been impressed by the form of Valencia's Dani Parejo in the last couple of seasons? Could you see him being a target for Madrid/Barcelona or a team in the Premier League such as Man City? Liam

Valencia's midfielder Dani Parejo celebrates his goal during the Spanish league football match RCD Espanyol vs Valencia CF
Image: Dani Parejo

GUILLEM SAYS: Dani Parejo has still got a long way to go if he wants to get to level of Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester City but he has certainly gained enough authority at Valencia. He’s also an excellent captain.

He’s become very important, more consistent and has worked on his defensive work for Nuno Santo’s side but he still has to improve further if he wants to get to the next level.

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