Arsenal will be eager to get back to winning ways once the international break comes to an end. The Gunners have failed to win in four Premier League games and are yet to triumph in a match this month.

ESPN pundit Steve Nicol has criticised one Gunners summer signing for having “done zero” since arriving at the Emirates Stadium.

Steve Nicol deems Arsenal’s Raheem Sterling the worst signing of the season so far
The player in question is Raheem Sterling, who joined Arsenal on loan from Chelsea in the last few minutes on deadline day last summer.

Sterling has made eight appearances for the Gunners since his move from Stamford Bridge, of which four have been starts, and he has registered one goal.

Nicol deemed Sterling the worst signing so far in the 2024/25 Premier League season, something which baffled some of his colleagues.

Dan Thomas said: “Sterling seems a weird one, Stevie, out of everyone…” To which Nicol replied: “What’s he done?”

Thomas responded: “But what did you expect him to do? He’s going to be playing bits and pieces…”

Nicol said: “Let’s be honest, what has he done? He’s done zero.

“I mean, at the very least, come on and give Martinelli and Saka on the other side a break and push the rest of the players to be better.

“I mean, just all the things, all the reasons that he was brought.

“You know, use your experience, push the other two to be better, giving them competition, and then when you do get a chance, make it count.

“I mean, he’s done nothing, absolutely zero. (I expected) more than zero, I expected more than nothing at all, absolutely.

“Okay call me crazy, but if you sign somebody and they do nothing, that’s not good.”

What Raheem Sterling’s Arsenal colleagues have said about him
Nicol’s choice for the worst signing of the season so far certainly raised eyebrows among at least one of his colleagues at ESPN FC.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has sung Sterling’s praises, calling him “exceptional” just a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Oleksandr Zinchenko says Sterling can be unstoppable once he gets going.

“He’s the guy who can always make the difference, the impact he can can have for any team around the world is amazing honestly,” Zinchenko has said.

“I know him well and the skills and the desire, when he wants to on his day, he’s unstoppable.”

Arsenal are next in action on Saturday when they host Premier League high-flyers Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium.

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.

Nottingham Forest hope to have Ola Aina available for their trip Arsenal after returning from international duty with Nigeria ahead of schedule last week.

Aina has been in superb form this season, almost ever-present in Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting XI with Forest riding high in fifth place.

The right-back completed the full 90 minutes in the 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest prior to the international break and played 83 minutes for Nigeria in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Benin last Thursday.

The former Chelsea youngster was replaced late on, subsequently receiving treatment for an issue suffered in the match.

That 1-1 draw against Benin ensured Nigeria qualified for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations with a game to spare.

With Forest in direct communication with the Nigerian FA, an agreement was met to allow Aina to miss Monday’s game against Rwanda, returning to the UK late last week for treatment back at Forest.

‘Relationship is something that is key,’ Nigeria’s interim coach Austin Eguavoen said in an interview with All Nigeria Soccer.

‘I agreed, stating that if we managed to get a positive result in Côte d’Ivoire, we’d maintain our good rapport. We have alternative players available, so in light of this, it was important to sustain the relationship.’

An official statement from the Nigeria Football Federation added: ‘English Premier League side Nottingham Forest fervently requested that wing-back Olaoluwa Aina be permitted to return to the UK for their pivotal match, having already secured qualification for AFCON.’

Aina will be assessed this week with reports in Nigeria claiming the reason for his substitution last week may have been fatigue.

Forest head to north London to take on Arsenal at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.