Norway manager casts doubt on Martin Odegaard's swift return to Arsenal following injury

The Arsenal captain sustained ankle ligament damage while playing for Norway in their 2-1 victory over Austria last month.

Odegaard has since missed six games for Arsenal, with Mikel Arteta unable to put a definitive timescale on the midfielder’s recovery.

The 25-year-old has been left out of Norway’s squad for their upcoming Nations League fixtures against Slovenia and Austria next week.

When asked this week how close Odegaard was to making the squad, Solbakken replied: ‘Far.

‘He is far from being in the squad. We will see how far he gets during this national team break.’

Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet adds that it is ‘uncertain’ whether Odegaard will even be available for Norway’s two international games against Slovenia and Kazakhstan in November.

‘I have known for quite some time that he was not relevant for this gathering,’ Solbakken added.

Odegaard is expected to miss Arsenal’s Premier League clash at home to Southampton this weekend.

After the international break, Arteta’s side have a further eight games before the players depart again for international duty.

During that run, Arsenal will play Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Chelsea in the Premier League.

In the Champions League, Arsenal host Shakhtar Donetsk before travelling to Inter for the fourth game of their European campaign.

Arsenal also play Preston North End in the Carabao Cup on October 30.

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