Arsenal ‘set timeframe’ for Martin Odegaard’s return
Arsenal ‘set timeframe’ for Martin Odegaard’s return. Arsenal are hopeful of having captain Martin Odegaard back from injury in time for their Champions League clash next week with Inter, according to a report.
Odegaard has been sidelined with an ankle injury since September and there were initial fears that he could be out for the rest of the calendar year. Although with subsequent updates, a faster return has been predicted as the Norwegian continues to progress in his recovery.
According to the Evening Standard, Arsenal now believe their captain could be back in action for their trip to face Inter on Wednesday, having only narrowly failed a fitness test to feature in the squad for Saturday’s clash with Newcastle United.
Manager Mikel Arteta confirmed Odegaard will “definitely” miss the Newcastle game, but backed the midfielder to make his comeback soon.
“Now is the stage he’s going to start doing some work with us and see how he deals with pain,” Arteta told his pre-match press conference.
“With the work rate and the amount of hours he has put in, I don’t know when he will be ready. Hopefully soon.”
Defender Riccardo Calafiori remains unavailable for the Newcastle game, as well as Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney, but some good news on centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes has seen him return to training and put himself back in contention for a place in the Arsenal squad this weekend.
