Martin Odegaard will sit out Norway’s upcoming matches with the Faroe Islands and Scotland as he continues his recovery from an injury sustained 11 days ago in Arsenal training.
The 24-year-old has had to sit out three Gunners matches in quick succession but is expected to return to action when we travel to Brentford on 25 November.
Prior to picking up his current issue, the midfielder had been rested for the 5-0 win over Sheffield United before scoring off the bench late in the Carabao Cup defeat to West Ham.
While Solbakken refused to go into the specifics of Odegaard’s injury, he gave enough details to allay any fears that it was serious.
“We have actually known for quite some time that Martin would not come,” he told TV2.
“But this had to be coordinated with Arsenal, and even though they tried lately to get him healthy and ready, we were pretty sure that it wouldn’t work.
“He will have an individual training programme for a few days now, so we hope he will come and watch the Faroe Islands match and be with us all Friday. At least that is the plan.”
“The club is so reserved [on the details of the injury], so I don’t know how much to say about it but I have known enough that I have never really planned to have Martin here.
“When it became clear early in the week that he probably wouldn’t make it, we haven’t planned with him.
Pressed further, he lightheartedly added: “I can put it this way, that it is a very common football injury from which you will probably recover very well and which is not career-threatening. So he will play many more international matches for Norway.”
Elsewhere, Italy boss Luciano Spalletti has confirmed that Jorginho required stitches to his head following Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Burnley.
Despite the knock, which forced him off deep into stoppage time, the 31-year-old was keen to join up with his country having not been selected on the last two occasions.
In a press conference on Monday, Spalletti said: “Jorginho has stitches in his head from his last game. I think it was the first time he went for a header in his career. We need him for his feet anyway. I couldn’t wait to call Jorginho because of what he told me the first time we spoke and the messages he sent. He’s always been determined to return.”
He added: “He always had the desire to be part of this team and this is crucial. I had spoken to him and he expressed his affection for this shirt and this colours.
“Now he is playing regularly [for Arsenal] and I think he is getting in shape. He is the Regista who tells the team where to go. He was named Arsenal’s captain. There are positive signals that led up to this decision. He was never excluded from the group.”
Italy are currently 3rd in Euro 2024 qualification Group C, and are in desperate need of wins against North Macedonia and Ukraine.
Happy for Jorginho to be called up again!
The biggest compliment I can pay Jorginho is that I’ve pretty much forgotten he played for Chelsea.
their loss tbh
I’m pretty sure their fans hated him. He was Sarri’s guy and they definitely hated Sarri. When the supporters had a manager they loved–the tactical genius Frank Lampard–I think Jorginho was out of favour. So that makes it better.
I may be in the minority here…but I have been very impressed with Jorginho since his arrival. A blunder or two I can remember but he is been so solid otherwise when we have needed someone to put in a shift in the midfield.
I wish FIFA would use their heads and consolidate international match calendars. Too many long travels are crazy for players and contribute to Injuries.
I would like to see mid-Jan to mid-Feb and June to mid-July for international matches. This will ensure that African and Asian players will not be missing matches during the season and players traveling up and down will be reduced. This will also help national teams gel better.
The qualification games should be played all together every other summer, after the league session is over.
The calendar should be: one summer, qualification for a major tournament; the next summer, the tournament itself.
So you get all the qualification games out of the way in the space of a month.
This would reduce all that travel for South American players. They would only have to fly across the Atlantic twice. There and back.
It would also make the qualification leagues more exciting as the matches would all be played in a short time.
Simple, isn’t it?
Very nicely thought out message however point to note here is there are two down votes. Looks like Mr Mangans AIBot is not working as per his expectations.
Look! It’s got you too!!!
The only problem with the South American qualification is that all the teams play in the same group (I think it’s 12 countries). You could split it up, but the thing with that is that Brazil and Argentina would always get separated, so they would never play each other.
lol both of these guys are such jokers… the Italian boss “I think it was the first time [Jorginho] went up for a header in his career.” 😅
And then you have the Norwegian guy collaborating with Arteta to treat the details of Ode’s injury like they’re a secret file wanted by the CIA, MI6 and the Mossad all together… bless him.
Mental health maybe? That’s one possible reason for the lack of specifics (and rightfully so). Regardless of what it is, hoping for a speedy recovery for Martin O
I read it was a hip problem, and I don’t think the way it’s phrased suggests it’s a mental health issue. I agree with the sentiment though.
I’m a Norwegian, and read in the news that it was a concussion. Might be BS, but I don’t think the Norwegian NT is as secretive as Arsenal.
Yea I guess secrecy is more important for PL clubs playing week in week out. Don’t want to be doing the opponents homework now do we?
There’s an interesting aspect to secrecy about injuries–insider knowledge and its possible effect on gambling. That’s the reason that the NFL reveals every injury, including both during the week and during a game (since free substitutions are allowed) with assessments of their seriousness like “probable to play” or “definitely out” (I’m not sure of the actual terms used, but they are clearly mandated by the league). I think this danger is lower in football for two reasons. NFL gambling is on the margin of victory (the point spread) not the outcome itself, so an important player’s absence can affect the… Read more »
It’s amusing to hear the intl bosses telling us how it is with our players
Strange one about not ever having done headers. Guess it’s going to be a case of “the first and last time” on account of those stud marks on his noggin.
It was a joke