Ø ARSENAL!

The dawn chorus of wailing and gnashing of teeth you could hear wherever you woke up on Tuesday morning was the sound of assorted Arsenal fans trying and failing to cope with the news that Martin Ødegaard was helped from the field during Norway’s win over Austria with what looked like serious knack. With a north London derby looming on the horizon and another of their star midfielders already on the Naughty Step, the last thing Gunners needed to hear was that their beloved captain had jiggered his ankle and left the field in a flood of tears. As radio switchboards and Social Media Disgraces lit up, some Arsenal fans immediately called for an outright ban on international football. A wheeze that predates the club they support by a full 12 years, how dare it be allowed to undermine their latest title tilt?

The packed calendar has also been blamed for Ødegaard’s misfortune, an argument that might hold water if it had befallen him seven or eight months down the line. As things stand, this was only the Norwegian’s fifth game in three weeks after a long and leisurely summer break; in the pantheon of Europe’s elite footballers, few came into the season more rested and raring to go than Martin and his international teammate Erling Haaland. The wisdom of having internationals this early in the season has also been questioned, mostly by people who seem oblivious to the fact that it is an annual ritual that dates back at least 50 years. While it is true Ødegaard shipped a heavy blow to his ankle in Arsenal’s most recent Premier League outing against Brighton, he had since come through 90 minutes unscathed for Norway against Kazakhstan. Sometimes footballers just sprain their ankles, whether it’s while representing their country, training with their club or doing something as mundane as descending stairs.

The good news for Arsenal fans is that while Ødegaard was spotted boarding a private plane back to the warm embrace of club physios, opinions on the subject of just how serious his knack might be seem mixed. While Norway manager Ståle Solbakken said it “looked bad in the dressing room”, the team’s doctor, Ola Sand, offered a more optimistic view. “Yes, it’s a sprain and as those of us who played football know, with luck it can turn out OK if the ligaments aren’t torn. We will see, maybe we use ultrasound to look at it. If we are unsure, there will be an MRI.”

While there is no guarantee that their skipper will miss Sunday’s game against Spurs, if Ødegaard is ruled out at least there are no shortage of obvious replacements. Well, there would be if Emile Smith-Rowe hadn’t been sold to Fulham, new signing Mikel Merino wasn’t already knacked, Fabio Vieira hadn’t been farmed out on loan to Porto and Gunnersaurus was still as mobile as he was in his Jurassic-era pomp. With Oleksandr Zinchenko due to represent Ukraine against Czech Republic on Tuesday night, Gunners fans will be praying he comes through unscathed or Sunday’s team-sheet could feature the name of one Mikel Arteta.

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