Arsenal have been handed a potential injury concern over captain Martin Odegaard with a pivotal week coming up that begins with the north London derby against Tottenham.
The Gunners skipper received a knock with a challenge from Yankuba Minteh during the first half of last weekend’s contentious 1-1 draw against Brighton in the Premier League, receiving treatment on the pitch.
Though Odegaard was deemed fine to continue, it looked to take him a little while to shake off the issue and his impact on the game was unusually muted before he was replaced by Gabriel Martinelli with just over 15 minutes to play at the Emirates Stadium.
The 25-year-old has since joined up with the Norway squad ahead of their opening Nations League Group B3 double-header, which begins against Kazakhstan in Almaty on Friday before the visit of Austria to Oslo on Monday evening.
Norway boss Stale Solbakken has now issued a potentially worrying update on Odegaard’s fitness after the blow suffered against Brighton.
"I think it's another bang," Solbakken said on Thursday. "I was about to say, I think it is something other than the bang, so to speak."
Arsenal fans will wait to see if Odegaard features for Norway against Kazakhstan on Friday.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta can ill afford any further midfield absences ahead of what is already shaping up to be a crucial first week back after the international break, so early in the season.
Arsenal are already without Declan Rice for the north London derby trip to Tottenham on September 15 after the England star was controversially sent off early in the second half against Brighton, shown a second yellow card for delaying the restart.
He will be back for the huge clash away at title rivals Manchester City a week later (September 22) as he serves only a one-match ban, and will also be available for the club’s opening fixture of the new-look Champions League away to current Europa League holders Atalanta in Italy on September 19.
However, new £31.6million recruit Mikel Merino looks set for nearly two months on the sidelines after fracturing his shoulder last week in his very first training session at London Colney after joining from LaLiga club Real Sociedad.
Those absences have already given Arteta a midfield headache to take on Spurs, an issue that would only dramatically increase if Odegaard were also to be short on fitness.
Reports this week claim that Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus could return against Tottenham as he steps up his recovery from a groin injury that has prevented him from playing so far this term, though defender Takehiro Tomiyasu remains in the treatment room with a knee issue. Kieran Tierney is also still nursing a hamstring injury suffered at Euro 2024 with Scotland.
