Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard issues major injury update after missing Norway games

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard says he has spent the international break trying to get back up to 100 per cent fitness after a “brutal” 90 minutes against Chelsea prior to the pause.

The 25-year-old was left out of Norway’s Nations League fixtures this month following a phone call between Mikel Arteta and national team boss Stale Solbakken. Odegaard had sustained his previous eight-week ligament setback while on Norway duty in September.

His brief cameo in the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Inter Milan earlier this month marked his return and he played the entirety of the subsequent 1-1 with Chelsea four days later, grabbing the assist for Gabriel Martinelli's opener.

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Odegaard - expected to play against Nottingham Forest on Saturday - said he was left “very tired” after the game and admitted an agreement was reached whereby he would not feature for Norway over the past fortnight. He believes he will be at top gear once again with a few more training sessions under his belt.

“It feels really great to be back after recovering from the longest injury of my career,” Odegaard wrote in his programme notes. “After being out for a long while, it was great to be back and able to play the whole game against Chelsea.

“Having not had many training sessions before the game, I was quite curious how I was going to react. But I ended up finishing the game, and felt OK, just very, very tired afterwards! But I got through it ok and it was nice to be out there again.”

He added: “Personally I felt I did all right, considering I was out for so long. You can feel it when you have been out for so long – you need that rhythm and sharpness when you haven’t played the games.

“So I could feel that a little bit for sure, but overall it was OK, I got the assist for our goal, and did a few other good things. But I’m sure with a few more games and a few more training sessions then that sharpness will come back, and I will be back to my level and feel even better.”

Odegaard spent the international break continuing his rehab at Arsenal, albeit did pay a short visit to Norway to show support for his teammates as they secured promotion to the top tier of the Nations League. He gave further insight into the reasons behind the omission decision.

“Because I hadn’t been training as normal before the Chelsea game, I didn’t feel like I was ready to go away with Norway in the international break and play again so soon,” he explained. “I needed some time to work on my fitness and to make sure the ankle was OK.

“Also other parts of the body need work when you have been out for a long time – when you play your first game in eight weeks it can be brutal on the body. So we all decided it was the best decision not to play the Norway games, and I thought it was what my body needed too.

“So I went there for a few days, then travelled back to London to continue my rehab at Sobha. I want to get back to 100 per cent now, so that’s what I’ve been working on.”

Arsenal are meanwhile set to be without Ben White until March after undergoing knee surgery this month.

Kieran Tierney was spotted back in training for the first time this season following his hamstring injury with Scotland at Euro 2024, although it is questionable whether he makes the squad against Forest.

Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s availability is uncertain due to respective knee and muscle setbacks while Bukayo Saka is also a doubt following his withdrawal from England duty.