Arsenal had initially been hoping to have Martin Odegaard fit for the North London Derby against Tottenham on November 23
11:39, 11 Nov 2025
Martin Odegaard is currently sidelined with a knee injury (Photo by Vince Mignott/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Norway boss Stale Solbakken has claimed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is “still some distance away” from making his return to action.
Solbakken was speaking ahead of Norway’s final two World Cup qualification matches against Estonia and Italy and also revealed the Norwegian national team had reached an agreement with Arsenal to include Odegaard within their squad in a non-playing capacity during the break.
However, Solbakken did also indicate the 26-year-old playmaker might not be back on the pitch as quickly as initially hoped.
He said on Monday when asked for an update on Odegaard’s progression: “It is steady. It is going in a steady direction but he is some distance away.”
The attacking midfielder suffered an MCL injury during Arsenal’s 2-0 win over West Ham in October when he clashed knees with Crysencio Summerville.
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Odegaard is now entering a crucial stage of his rehabilitation and he will continue his recovery with Norway’s doctors and medical staff later this week, whilst also looking to rally around his international team-mates.
Solbakken said, confirming Arsenal had given Odegaard permission to travel with the Norway squad to Oslo and Milan: “He will fly in [to Oslo] after his rehab on Thursday. Then he will continue his rehab with us and will be with us from Thursday afternoon. I don’t know when the flight leaves. But he will be with us until Milan.”
While Arsenal have been reluctant to rush Odegaard’s recovery, they had hoped to have him back fit for the North London Derby against Tottenham on November 23.
Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are slowly edging closer to returns while Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli should also be back after the international break after picking up hamstring and groin issues, respectively.
Both Gyokeres and Martinelli were recently left out of Sweden and Brazil’s respective international squads.
Martin Odegaard picked up his knee injury back in early October(Image: Rob Newell/Getty Images)
Victory against Estonia on Thursday could be enough to book Norway’s ticket to the United States, Canada and Mexico – providing Italy drop points against Moldova.
If the qualification campaign goes to the wire, Norway could book their place in the World Cup finals at San Siro against Italy.
They already boast a whopping goal difference of 26 while Italy have a goal difference of 10, which stands Norway in great stead to qualify as group winners. Furthermore, Norway also thumped Italy 3-0 in Oslo in June, which means they have a superior head-to-head record, also.
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