Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard withdraws from Norway duty, states reason

Norway will be without their captain and Arsenal star midfielder Martin Odegaard for their upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures.

Odegaard suffered an ankle injury during the international break in September and was ruled out for seven weeks. He made his much anticipated comeback last week as a substitute in the UEFA Champions League defeat against Inter Milan.

However, the former Real Madrid midfielder was in the starting eleven as Arsenal played a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday.

He travelled to Oslo to join up with Norway ahead of games against Slovenia and Kazakhstan, but has now returned to London.

“After discussions with the medical staff at the national team, we have unfortunately come to the conclusion that the situation is not good enough to play these games,” said Odegaard.

“I’ve been through a long training period and when you haven’t practised football in the last nine weeks, it’s natural not to be 100% yet. I need to listen to my body, complete this rehab process and get my foot back in good shape.

“The hope has always been to be able to play the national matches, and if I hadn’t played on Sunday, it would have been out of the question to participate anyway.

“It’s a very bad feeling to lose these games, I love playing for Norway and with this team.”

Odegaard missed 12 matches for Arsenal following his injury in September and has only made five appearances in all competitions this season.

His return to London should be well received by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who has been forced to deal with various injury concern this season.

Norway are top of Nations League Group B3 with seven points from four matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s next fixture is against Nottingham Forest on November 23.