Lucas Silva and Martin Odegaard are set to make their Real Madrid debuts during the club’s next two matches against Deportivo La Coruna and FC Shalke 04, respectively.

The two midfielders were both signed during the January transfer window but neither have featured for the first team. While Odegaard has appeared for the club’s reserve team, Real Madrid Castilla; Silva has not been named to Carlo Ancelotti’s match day squad since completing his signing from Brazilian champions, Cruzeiro.

The Brasileiro defensive midfielder of the year was penciled into the manager’s squad against Real Sociedad at the end of January, but a last minute decision from Ancelotti postponed the player’s debut.

Silva reportedly arrived in Madrid out of shape and Ancelotti has used the past few weeks in training to improve the player’s match fitness. With Sami Khedira ruled out for three weeks after suffering a thigh injury against Atletico Madrid, Silva’s chances of making a debut for his “dream” club have vastly improved.

“He won’t start tomorrow [against Deportivo La Coruna] but there’s a chance he will get some playing time,” Ancelotti said during today’s pre-match press conference. “He has come leaps and bounds in terms of his physical level. Illarra and Kroos will start again Deportivo.”

While Silva could feature this weekend, Odegaard will travel with Real Madrid early next week as they prepare for the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 encounter with FC Schalke 04.

The Norwegian teenager was officially included into Madrid’s Champions League squad for the knockout stages, and should the 16-year-old be called upon by Ancelotti he would become the youngest player ever to appear in the European competition.

This week, Odegaard has trained with the first team more so than in previous weeks. The original plan was for the teenager to alternate between training with the senior squad and reserves. But injuries to Real Madrid’s lineup have accelerated the attacking midfielder’s inclusion to the first team.

With Luka Modric still rehabilitating from his injury, and James Rodriguez (broken foot) and Khedira ruled out for a significant time; it appears Ancelotti has been forced to include Odegaard in his squad sooner than expected.

An interesting note, the Spanish publication Marca is reporting that the men’s clothing brand, TenKey (which is responsible for kitting out the first team), recently measured Odegaard for his official travel suit.

Programming note: Real Madrid vs. Deportivo La Coruna will be shown LIVE on Saturday starting at 11:55am EST on beIN SPORTS and DishWorld.