Arsenal injury latest as Odegaard update issued ahead of North London Derby | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has delivered an injury update on Martin Odegaard, as well as other key players, two days out from the North London Derby against Spurs.

The Gunners are sweating on the fitness of the midfielder after he limped off an apparent ankle injury in Norway’s 2-1 win over Austria on Monday night.

The 25-year-old was spotted wearing crutches while boarding an airplane, but Arteta is hopeful he will make a speedy recovery once the club’s medical department complete their assessment of the injury’s severity. That does not rule out the possibility of Odegaard playing some part this weekend.

“We need some more tests so let’s see what happens in the next day or so, this afternoon probably, and see what happens with the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back,” the Basque native said in his pre-match press conference.

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“He is super positive about everything, we know Martin, he wants to be there every single day, but we have to wait and see.”

Arteta added: “With 48 hours until the game, players could always become available, but let’s see what happens.”

Mikel Merino will play no part against Tottenham on Sunday after fracturing his shoulder in training, but his recovery is going well.

“Better, it is a slow process because it is a bone and it takes a while to heal,” said Arteta. “He is progressing well and he is already doing some stuff.

“He is working extremely hard. We are using this time as well to make sure he understands a lot of things that he has a lot of questions about, so when he is back he is ready to go and impact the team.”

The Arsenal boss could not put a timeframe on Merino’s return, though. “It is very difficult to understand the healing of the bone. I think at the moment he does not have a lot of symptoms, so you can speed up [his recovery] very quickly because he has not lost anything else, but we have to wait and see.”

Arsenal have to plan for the Spurs game without Declan Rice following his sending off against Brighton, but Gabriel Jesus, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury, and Riccardo Calafiori could be available for selection.

“Gabby was out [training],” said Arteta. “He has got another session tomorrow. If everything goes well he will be ready to be selected in the squad, which is great news for us.”

Calafiori sustain a calf injury while on international duty with Italy. “It’s another one that we have to wait for another day or so.”

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