Arsenal have confirmed that captain Martin Odegaard is set to face a spell on the sidelines with injury.
The Norwegian left the Emirates Stadium with his knee in a brace after a collision with Hammers winger Crysencio Summerville, which saw him replaced by Martin Zubimendi after just 30 minutes.
The 26-year-old had only just recently returned from a shoulder injury, but could now miss further games for the Gunners.
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Martin Odegaard suffers MDL injury as recovery timeline estimated
The Arsenal captain looked dejected as he left the field in Saturday’s game against West Ham (Image credit: Getty Images)
In a statement on their official club website, Arsenal confirmed that Odegaard has suffered a medial collateral ligament injury to his left knee.
They added that he has therefore been withdrawn from international duty with Norway, where he was due to face Israel and New Zealand over the coming week, to be assessed and treated by club medics with “the aim of a return to action as soon as possible”.
Odegaard has only recently returned from another injury setback (Image credit: Getty Images)
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is often coy around return dates and selection issues, as all Fantasy Premier League fans will know, but we do have some idea how long the midfielder could be facing out of action.
Physio Scout, a respected football injury analyst on X, has provided a clearer timeline than the club has offered, with a couple of caveats.
They state that if Odegaard has suffered a grade one strain, he could face one to three weeks out, a grade two would see him out for three to six weeks, and a grade three could lead to up to 10 weeks on the sidelines, potentially more.
Thankfully for those connected to the north London outfit, the analyst has revealed that, based on the footage and information available, a grade three seems unlikely, but stated that further assessment will be needed to clarify an exact recovery time.
Mikel Arteta will be gutted to lose his captain for any length of time, but summer recruitment means he still has plenty of options (Image credit: Getty Images)
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, the update from the sports scientist will provide some peace of mind, as anything to do with a knee ligament risks waving goodbye to a player for the rest of the season.
Thanks to the Gunners’ summer recruitment, however, Arteta will not be too panicked, with the man who replaced Odegaard, Zubimendi, a more than suitable replacement.
That’s not to mention the likes of Mikel Merino and Christian Norgaard also in reserve, the latter being an unused substitute against West Ham, so Arteta will have plenty of options at his disposal.
Odegaard is worth €85m, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal next face Fulham when Premier League action returns after the October international break.
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