Heerenveen (The Netherlands), Jan 11 (IANS): Dutch football club SC Heerenveen have attracted Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid, with the 18-year-old signing a one-and-a-half year contract running until mid-2018.

"For my personal development, this is the best decision," Odegaard said during his presentation in here on Tuesday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I am very excited and I think Heerenveen is a great club for me. Real Madrid is a very big club with a lot of good players, so it is difficult to play there as a young player. That is the reason to try something else and get to play more."

The Norwegian prodigy had moved from Norwegian club Stromsgodset IF to Real Madrid in January 2015 and penned a deal for six years.

At that time Odegaard was the hottest prospect in Europe, courted by a host of other clubs including Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Arsenal and Ajax Amsterdam.

He had already made history by becoming the youngest ever player in a European Championships qualifier at the age of 15 for Norway.

Odegaard made his Real Madrid debut on May 23, 2015, but afterwards he did not get another chance.

With Real Madrid Castilla, the Spanish club's reserve team, he was active in the third level of the Spanish league.

This season, Odegaard played one match for Real Madrid's first team on November 30 last year against Cultural Leonesa.