Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will face an anxious international break after creative genius Martin Odegaard was called up to the Norway squad despite only returning from a two-month absence last week. The former Real Madrid star is part of his country’s Nations League squad after suffering an ankle injury the last time he appeared for his national side in September.
Odegaard was forced off during Norway’s Nations League victory over Austria and missed 12 Arsenal matches a result.
He returned to the pitch as a late substitute during the Gunners’ 1-0 Champions League defeat to Inter last Wednesday and played the full 90 minutes as Arteta’s side drew 1-1 with Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.
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Norway will travel to Slovenia for their penultimate Nations League clash of the year on Thursday night before rounding off their campaign with a home match against Kazakhstan three days later.
Norway are top of the League B Group 3 table but are level on points with Austria and Slovenia, with all three teams picking up two wins and one draw from their opening four matches.
Odegaard’s selection for the latest Norway squad was confirmed by manager Stale Solbakken, who explained that the blockbuster star will have a say over whether he plays. “We’ll see how it turns out. The ankle, the medics and Martin decide this,” Solbakken told Norwegian outlet VG.
Arsenal had been lacking creativity in the absence of Odegaard, with the Gunners enduring an underwhelming run of results in recent weeks.
And the 25-year-old illustrated his worth on his return to the starting line-up against the Blues as he teed-up the opening goal of the game for Gabriel Martinelli after the hour mark. But Pedro Neto fired in an equaliser 10 minutes later as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Arteta was quizzed about Odegaard’s impressive showing by Sky Sports after the final whistle. And the Spaniard explained: “Our player has been out for six weeks and barely trained with the team.
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“To be able to play at this level in the Premier League tells you how much he looks after himself and the leadership and character he has.
“Everything flows better with players like this. Today we clicked much better. You could see everything was flowing, but again it is about winning.
“What we have found is that every day we have had to change something big, you know, the engine, the wheels, steering wheel because we've had problem after problem. Normally the team goes down but this team has unbelievable energy and spirit to play.”
