Arteta details ‘significant’ Odegaard injury as Arsenal boss raises ‘identity’ concerns ahead of Atalanta
Mikel Arteta has provided further detail on Martin Odegaard’s “significant” injury as the Arsenal boss raised concerns over his side’s “identity” ahead of their Champions League clash with Atalanta.
The Gunners travel to Bergamo to take on Atalanta in their Champions League opener on Thursday as Arteta is given the chance to exorcise his European demons.
But he will be without his captain for that game and for the foreseeable future after Odegaard picked up an injury on international duty with Norway.
The national side’s team doctor Ole Sands initially thought Odegaard would be out for around 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.”
David Ornstein of The Athletic claimed on Tuesday that the extent of the injury remained unclear.
Ornstein said: “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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And an update from Arteta ahead of the Gunners’ clash with Atalanta suggests the injury may well be worse than first thought.
The Spaniard revealed: “After recent scans the scans showed that he’s got some damage especially on one of the ligaments in the ankle. It’s something quite significant so we’re going to lose him for a while.”
Odegaard has played a huge role in Arsenal’s consecutive second-place finishes in the Premier League and with a game against Manchester City – the side that has twice pipped them to the title – to come at the weekend, Arteta admitted he was concerned about how they will cope without arguably their most important player.
When he was asked how the team will get by without their captain, Arteta responded: “He’s our captain. He’s been one of the biggest and best players in our team. Our identity is very linked to how he plays and behaves. It’s a big test for the team to see how able we are to show a different face.”
