Martin Odegaard suffered a minor knee injury during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford last month and has missed the club’s last two games, although he recently returned against Tottenham.
Martin Odegaard has missed Arsenal’s last two games due to knee problem
Norway manager Starre Solbakken has insisted Martin Odegaard’s injury is “not serious”, despite the Arsenal captain missing the last two games with a recurring knee problem.
The Gunners playmaker first noticed the problem when he tried to deny Kean Lewis-Potter’s equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Brentford at the G Tech Community Stadium last month.
Odegaard, who staggered through the post-match mixed zone, missed the FA Cup fourth round tie against Wigan Athletic, missed the 2-2 draw with Wolves and came on the bench in the one-sided North London derby win over Tottenham.
But since then, the Norwegian has been forced to miss important Premier League wins against Chelsea and Brighton respectively.
But Solbakken told Scandinavian broadcaster Viaplay that he was not worried: “There is nothing serious with Martin. The most important thing is that he fully recovers and will be in good shape for us in the summer.”
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“For those of us who care about the World Cup, it’s not a disaster for him to have some time off now. He will rebuild and be an important part of Arsenal in April, May and probably late March.”
Norway will play international friendlies against the Netherlands and Switzerland later this month, but it remains to be seen whether Odegaard will be included in the squad for those games.
Ahead of Arsenal’s dispiriting win at the Amex, Arteta gave a modest update on his captain in his pre-match press conference, saying “we’ll see” when asked about the attacking midfielder’s possible return.
Despite making 20 top-flight appearances for the Premier League leader, Odegaard’s season so far has been marred by injuries.
He was plagued by shoulder problems and was forced off in the first half of wins against Leeds United and Nottingham Forest at the Emirates in August and September respectively, before suffering an MCL knee injury against West Ham on 4 October.
The problem kept him sidelined until late November, when he came off the bench in a 3-1 win over German giants Bayern Munich.
Norway head coach Starre Solbakken talks about Martin Odegaard’s knee injury (Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Arsenal are optimistic that Odegaard is ready to play a key role in their quest for a silver medal, while Norway are looking to their leader in this summer’s World Cup finals.
The 27-year-old missed his country’s final three World Cup qualifying matches but traveled to Milan to cheer on his compatriots, who beat Italy 4-1 at San Siro to qualify for the tournament.
Norway will face France and Senegal in North America and will find out their final Group I opponents later this month after the playoffs.
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