Zinedine Zidane ‘forced to take Martin Odegaard on Real Madrid’s pre-season tour by president Florentino Perez’

ZINEDINE ZIDANE was reportedly told to take Martin Odegaard on Real-Madrid's pre-season tour by club president Florentino Perez.

According to French news portal Le10Sport, the Spanish giant's manager wasn't too keen to take the 17-year-old prospect to North America because he's not planning to play the teen in his first team this season.

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But Perez is said to have insisted on the Norwegian going on tour with the rest of the squad – minus those who competed in the latter stages of Euro 2016 – because first team involvement is noted in his contract.

Perez is hoping that if Odegaard plays in pre-season it will put him in the shop window for a loan move, and Zidane is in agreement that the player should be farmed out this season.

However, the clash over the youngster going on Real's pre-season tour is thought to be the pair's first since the Madrid legend took over as the club's manager in January.

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Odegaard has been linked with loan moves to Hamburg and Liverpool but Real are thought to be keen to send him to a Spanish club.

Zidane's predecessor Carlo Ancelotti claimed purchasing Odegaard was a "PR exercise" for Perez and also insisted he was told to play him in three games for the first team.

In his latest book, Quiet Leadership, Ancelotti wrote: "When [president] Florentino [Perez] buys a Norwegian footballer, you simply have to accept it.

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"Furthermore, the president decided that he would have to play three games for the first team as part of a PR exercise.

"He could become the best player in the world but I don’t care because it wasn’t me who asked for him.

"It was a signing made for PR purposes."

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Real signed Odegaard from Stromsgodset for around £3million in January 2015 and it was announced in the press conference that he would train with the first team and Madrid's reserve team, Castilla, who were then managed by Zidane.

Ancelotti handed the star his first-team debut in May, bringing the youngster on for Cristiano Ronaldo in the 7-3 home win over Getafe.