Mikel Arteta warned that Captain Martin Odegard’s injuries could be serious after the midfielder left the chiefs wearing knee braces. Odegard had knee issues in the first half of Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday afternoon.
Gunners Skipper has established an undesirable milestone by becoming the first Premier League player to withdraw in the first half of three consecutive fixtures. Arteta looked discouraged when asked about the Norwegian’s condition after the match. He said: “I think he had a crash, a knee-to-the-knee and right away he was uncomfortable. I only spoke to him and he wasn’t positive about it.
“He’s wearing braces. We have to wait from the doctor, but we were very unlucky about it. Yeah, we didn’t have him from the start for some reason. Shoulder twice, and this injury.
“We need to wait for the extent of the injury. We have to find a solution, but we are clearly our captain, especially the player who gives us a completely different dimension to what he can do with offense.
Declan Rice won the maiden goal of the campaign before Bukayo Saka contributed a second to claim all three points against Nuno Espirito Santo’s outfit.
However, the US was retracted 11 minutes ago at the last whi request at his own request, due to a complaint on the back, after collapsed and needed a doctor’s appointment.
The midfielder has been a constant presence for Arsenal this season, but his participation in England in future matches against Wales and Latvia is now uncertain.
“Well, he asked me to get off so it’s not okay, so that’s a shame,” Arteta commented when he asked about Rice.
“He had back pain and couldn’t continue. This is very unusual for Declan, so you have to rate him and see how he is.”
