While battling for possession with Christoph Baumgartner, Odegaard landed awkwardly on his left ankle. The Norway captain received on-field treatment from medical staff before clambering to his feet.
Teary-eyed, Odegaard was consoled by his teammates as he was helped off the pitch, with Erling Haaland being the first to comfort his fellow countryman. Speaking to reporters after the game, Stale Solbakken made a subtle remark about Arteta when quizzed on the playmaker's knock.
As quoted by the Mirror, the Norway boss said: "It looked bad in the dressing room too. He didn't have the nerve to continue. It is not certain that Arteta will call me tonight and praise me."
Then, in an interview on TV2 moments later, the national team doctor provided an update. Ola Sand said: "He got a small ankle sprain. We will see, maybe we use ultrasound to look at it. If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow."
Odegaard was later pictured on crutches upon his return to London. And, when the Arsenal boss was asked if his skipper could play again before the October international break, Arteta conceded that it would be a 'surprise'.
Then, in a column for the club's matchday programme at the weekend, the Norwegian claimed that he's recently made 'really good progress'. Odegaard wrote: "In the last week or so I’ve made really good progress.
"I’m getting better and better by the day and feel it’s going well. When you feel like things are moving forward, it gives you motivation to do more and more and work harder. Today is our last game before another international break, so that gives me some more time to work on the rehab, too.
"Hopefully it won’t be much longer — I think we will know more as soon as I get out on the training pitches and we see how my ankle responds to that. "t the moment it’s progressing well and it looks better than we were thinking, but we’ve still got to take every day as it comes."
However, despite his wishful thinking, the Norway boss has since come out and claimed that Odegaard remains a 'long way' from playing again. In Tuesday's print edition of Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen, as quoted by Daily Cannon, Solbakken said: "There is great progress in relation to pain and injury, but he is a long way from playing matches."
The 56-year-old added that Odegaard is 'in Arsenal's hands' as he continues to follow his rehabilitation programme at London Colney. When asked for a return date, Solbakken replied: "I don’t think anyone knows that, and I don’t think he knows it himself either."
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