Arsenal have been dealt a major blow as Martin Odegaard is set to face at least three weeks on the sidelines, according to Norway’s national team doctor.
The Gunners skipper limped off midway through the second half during Norway’s 2-1 victory over Austria on Monday night after being on the receiving end of a poor challenge by Christoph Baumgartner.
The Norwegian manager admitted after the game that Odegaard had picked up a ‘bad’ ankle injury while national team doctor Ola Sand confirmed that the attacking midfielder would be given an MRI scan to reveal the full extend of the damage.
Odegaard was photographed on crutches as he boarded a private jet on Tuesday as he flew back to the UK to be further assessed by Arsenal’s medical team.
The Norway team doctor has now provided a fresh update after confirming that Odegaard is expected to be ruled out for a ‘minimum’ of three weeks. Sand warned that the injury could take even longer to heal and admitted that the Arsenal star is already a doubt for the international fixtures in October.
The doctor also revealed that Odegaard was ‘very worried’ about the injury and was in ‘extreme pain’, but they are confident that there is no fracture in the ankle or foot.
Minimum 3 weeks
Norwegian journalist Jan Aage Fjortoft cited Sand as saying:
“Injuries like this takes minimum 3 weeks. Everything else is bonus. And it can take longer time. Both Ståle (the national coach) and I know that next national games (10th of October) he will be very doubtful.
They are investigating the MR now. There is probably no fracture in his foot. Ankle injuries are very painful straight away. Martin had extreme pain. He was very worried”
This news will come as a major blow to Arsenal as they head in to a huge run of fixtures. If Odegaard is out for three weeks, he’ll miss Sunday’s NLD against Tottenham, the trip to Atalanta in the Champions League, next weekend’s huge title clash with Man City at the Etihad Stadium, the League Cup clash with Bolton and the visit of Leicester City to the Emirates at the end of the month.
Should the injury take longer to heal, Odegaard will also sit out the Champions League showdown with PSG and the Premier League clash with Southampton before the October international break starts.
This is the last thing Mikel Arteta needed ahead of such an important run of games. The Gunners boss is already going to be without new signing Mikel Merino for the next 6-8 weeks after he fractured his shoulder in his first training session. Riccardo Calafiori also returned home early from international duty after picking up a knock playing for Italy.
Takehiro Tomiyasu is on the sidelines while Gabriel Jesus has missed the last two games with a groin injury, so Arsenal already have a number of injury problems to deal with so early in the season.
