No one has said that staying in the Norwegian league or moving to another Nordic country is an alternative though. You are absolutely right that top talents from the Nordic countries need to go abroad to further their education; the quality is just not good enough in any of the Nordic leagues. However, leaving at 16 may not be necessary. Lots of players who have left around 20 has become really good footballers.
The thing which seems to be questioned here by a lot of people is whether Real Madrid is the best place to go. Personally, I think there are quite a few big clubs with good environments where a young player is more likely to get first team football than at Madrid, and I think we are one of those clubs. This seems to be a sensible boy though; if he is smart, then first team football shouldn't even be a factor for him at this stage since he is just 16. There is no denying that training regularly with the Real Madrid first team is bound to be a positive thing; there are so many top class players to learn from! If he doesn't play a single minute of first team football for the next three years, he will still not have turned 20 yet. There are plenty of clubs to move to then, as a better player.
