Arteta confirms Arsenal captain Odegaard out ´for a while´ with ankle injury

Mikel Arteta confirmed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will be out for a while after suffering a significant ankle injury while playing for Norway.

The 25-year-old hobbled off during his country s Nations League 2-1 win over Austria in Oslo on September 9 and returned to London on crutches.

Odegaard missed Sunday s 1-0 derby victory against Tottenham and Arteta revealed the bad news on the midfielder ahead of Arsenal s opening Champions League game away to Atalanta.

The scans showed that he s got some damage especially on one of the ligaments in the ankle, the Arsenal manager said on Wednesday.

It s something quite significant so we re going to lose him for a while.

Arteta, whose side are second in the league and two points behind Manchester City, said he hoped it would not be months but let s see .

Odegaard has become a key player for Arsenal, missing only a handful of games over the last three seasons, and a lengthy absence will come as a huge blow.

Italy bound

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

He s our captain. He s been one of the biggest and best players in our team, continued Arteta.

Our identity is very linked to how he plays and behaves. It s a big test for the team to see how able we are to show a different face.

Norway coach Stale Solbakken told VG newspaper he had been fully updated about the injury and was preparing for a life without Martin .

We have to take it week by week and day by day. Some types of damage go faster and some go slower, he said.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *