Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been out for an extended period after suffering an injury during the September international break.
The midfielder had to be taken off after 67 minutes in Norway’s Nations League game against Austria and has not been available since then.
Odegaard has missed crucial games against Spurs, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain over the last month. Arsenal went unbeaten in these big matches, which led some pundits to claim the team are better off without the Norwegian.
The last update on the Norwegian’s status was that he was still in rehabilitation:
“I’m feeling better and better each day, but when it’s an ankle injury you have ups and downs as well. Some days you feel really good, and then sometimes you can have a little reaction. But in general it’s getting better and I feel like I’m getting closer now.” Odegaard wrote in his captains notes in the matchday programme for the Shakhtar game.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work in the gym, and was on an anti-gravity treadmill recently, which is really good because it takes the weight off. Especially at the beginning that was really good, to be running again like that when you’ve been offloading the leg and not using it as much as normal. That was a good feeling, helping me get back to moving in a normal way, and being able to run after not being able to do that.”
After the international break, the assumption was that the injury would not be a serious one, but an MRI scan revealed that he could be out for months.
Norway boss plans to call up Odegaard for the next international break
Despite the timeline for the midfielder’s recovery being a couple of weeks late, Norway boss Stale Solbakken is looking forward to having Odegaard available next month:
“Everything indicates that (Odegaard’s injury) is going according to plan, then it is about the last steps when you are going to train with opponents and at team training.” He said speaking to Norwegian newspaper VG Sporten.
“It depends on how he responds to it, but we have a justified hope that he is ready. I’ve spoken to him quite regularly.”
“Now that it’s starting to progress, it’s easier, but it’s not fun to be injured. At the same time, he has been very little injured, so it is probably a training matter for him.”
Norway face Slovenia and Kazakhstan in the Nations League next month. Despite Solbakken‘s comments, it does not look like Odegaard is anywhere near match fitness to be making such assumptions ahead of the international break.