Martin Odegaard was due for scans in London on Thursday on the ankle injury that threatens to damage Arsenal’s early season prospects, according to CBS Sports sources.
Odegaard limped out of Norway’s 2-1 win over Austria on Monday night, rolling his ankle following a challenge with Christoph Baumgartner that already had Arsenal fearing the worst. With trips to Tottenham, Atalanta and Manchester City in the space of a week, Odegaard’s possible absence could not come at a worse time.
Arsenal will be hoping that tests on Odegaard offer some cause for encouragement after MRI scans took place in the aftermath of the injury. Those results were passed on to the Norwegian national team, whose doctor Ola Sand said there is “probably no fracture” on Odegaard’s ankle. Should that indeed prove to be the case then it would allay fears of the lengthiest possible absence for the 25 year old.
However, both Sand and head coach Stale Solbakken warned Norwegian publication VG that Odegaard’s availability for Norway’s Nations League games against Slovenia and Austria next month was in doubt. “Such ankle injuries often take at least three weeks,” said Sand.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will continue to assess Odegaard on a daily basis before Arteta provides an update on his captain’s status in his press conference on Friday.
Odegaard’s absence is likely to be keenly felt by Arsenal, however long it might be for, particularly as the visit of Paris Saint-Germain to the Emirates Stadium looms on the horizon even after a trying set of fixtures that begin at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday. The playmaker is perhaps the only member of Arteta’s first team squad for whom a natural replacement is not immediately apparent, though Kai Havertz could drop back from his center forward role to add creativity to a midfield that was already light on numbers before Odegaard’s injury.
New signing Mikel Merino was sidelined for six to eight weeks after fracturing his shoulder in his first training session with his new team mates. Declan Rice is also suspended after picking up two yellow cards in the draw with Brighton.
