Martin Odegaard injury update as expert reveals return dates for Arsenal star

Odegaard is facing another spell out of the team (Picture: Getty)

Martin Odegaard is unlikely to have suffered a major ‘grade three’ knee injury that would sideline the Arsenal captain for months.

The Norway international has missed three games this season, injuring the same shoulder twice in games against Leeds United and Nottingham Forest .

He was forced off inside the first-half for a third time this season at home to West Ham United on Saturday after a clash of knees with Crysencio Summerville.

The Gunners captain swiftly withdrew from international duty for Norway’s games against Israel and New Zealand with Arsenal confirming in a statement he had suffered medial collateral ligament damage in his left knee.

Arsenal’s statement provided little in the way of a timeline for his return.

Two of Odegaard’s teammates have also been struck down by knee problems this season with Noni Madueke’s thrilling start to life in north London halted with an injury he picked up against Manchester City.

Kai Havertz meanwhile has managed just 30 minutes of football this term, undergoing a ‘successful minor surgical procedure’ at the end of August .

Odegaard came off after 30 minutes against West Ham (Picture: Getty Images)

Arsenal moved top of the Premier League before the international break and will be desperate to have Odegaard back available as soon as possible with a trip to Fulham awaiting on 18 October.

While Arsenal have not disclosed any further details, a best-case scenario for medial knee ligament injuries is likely to see the midfielder ruled out for at least one month.

Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics, explains there are a variety of issues that could effect that timeline, however.

‘It depends on the grading of that injury,’ Smith told Metro. ‘If it’s a lower grade one, typically that injury lasts up to a month while something more serious like a grade two, the standard you see can be anything between four and eight weeks.

‘But every individual injury is unique. Whether there is any other damage, for example. When you sustain something like a medial ligament injury, you can often at times irritate some meniscus or have other damage done around the area. It depends on what the full extent of it looks like and how much swelling occurred and how they respond from that. There a lot of things that can impact the timeline.

Arsenal released a statement on Odegaard’s injury last Sunday (Picture: Getty)

‘If it was a grade three that would be a full rupture and you would absolutely have to have a surgical repair where you are looking at three to four months if not more. I would highly doubt that it is something of that nature, I think they would have probably made a statement or we would have heard about it publicly.’

Following this week’s World Cup qualifiers, Arsenal proceed on a run of seven games, concluding away to Sunderland on 8 November before the final international break of the year.

They return to action away to Fulham on Saturday 18 October before hosting Atletico Madrid in the Champions League three days later.