Arsenal blow as Ornstein reveals ‘concerning’ Odegaard update amid ‘significant injury’ claim

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has provided an update on Martin Odegaard after the Arsenal standout picked up an ankle injury during the international break.

The Arsenal captain is an integral player for the English giants as he grabbed eight goals and ten assists in his 35 Premier League appearances last season.

25-year-old Odegaard has only missed the odd game since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid, but he was unavailable for Sunday’s North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur as he suffered an ankle injury while representing Norway during the international break.

Norway team doctor Ole Sand claimed during the international break that Odegaard would be out for “at least three weeks”.

Sand said: “Such ankle injuries often take at least three weeks. Anything other than that is just a bonus. And then it can take longer.

“What we have so far obtained from the MRI examination in London is that there is probably no fracture in the ankle.”

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Arsenal managed without Odegaard (and suspended Declan Rice) against Spurs, but his absence may be realised more this weekend as Mikel Arteta’s side travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City.

Ahead of this match, Ornstein has revealed that Odegaard’s injury “looks to be significant”.

“He was never going to make [the Tottenham match], it was what Arteta said, and it looks like a significant injury, but look, we don’t know,” Ornstein said on The Athletic FC podcast.

“The last I heard, they didn’t have full clarity from the scan still, because of the extent of the swelling, but the extent of the swelling concerns you, if you’re an Arsenal fan.

“Because, maybe it could be quite tough, but there’s an international break coming up as well, so they’ll be praying that their creator in chief, their captain, is okay, but they will also have to cope without him if it is going to be a prolonged absence.”

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Ahead of Arsenal’s match against Man City, Jorginho has admitted that Erling Haaland is “starting to make them laugh”.

“Erling scoring again, it is starting to make us laugh,” Jorginho said.

“We look at City’s results because we look at all the games and we love football. We love the Premier League so we watch all the games to be fair. It doesn’t get to our head. We need to focus on us and that is what we are trying to do.”

He added: “If you want to achieve big things you need to have the mentality of trying to win every single game.

“That is what we need to do and that is what we want to do.

“You have to keep believing in what you are doing. We are doing that and we keep working hard to improve and doing right the things. We are on the right path and we need to keep it going.”