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.