Mikel Arteta confirms media reports on Odegaard and Partey injury

Recent reports on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard suggested the midfielder should be fit for the Gunners after the international break, but before that, he may have to pull out of Norway’s internationals over the November break.

Mikel Arteta confirmed as much in his post-match press conference on Saturday.

“I’m going to have a meeting now with the medical department to understand everybody’s situation and I think he is going to be back after the international break,” Arteta said.

“But I don’t know exactly what the decision is and the communication at the moment.”

Norwegian outlet TV 2 had previously claimed that Odegaard’s current injury problems meant he wouldn’t join up with the squad for their matches against the Faroe Islands and Scotland.

But Simon Collings reported for the Evening Standard that the decision hadn’t yet been finalised, and it would only happen after the Burnley game.

All sources agreed that Odegaard’s injury was a new one sustained in training last week, unrelated to the previous hip problem that kept him out of the starting lineup against Sheffield United at the end of October.

Arsenal's Norwegian midfielder #08 Martin Odegaard reacts after losing the UEFA Champions League Group B first leg football match between RC Lens and Arsenal FC at the Bollaert Stadium in Lens, northern France, on October 3, 2023. 

Arsenal’s Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard reacts after losing the UEFA Champions League Group B first-leg football match between RC Lens and Arsenal FC at the Bollaert Stadium in Lens, northern France, on October 3, 2023. 

Odegaard featured in all of Arsenal’s first 14 games of the season, but he’s only played 10 minutes in the last five matches.

Arteta would certainly welcome his captain back as soon as possible, and it appears that’s most likely after the break, away to Brentford on November 25th.