Martin Ødegaard’s Arsenal return ‘weeks’ away – Mikel Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said Martin Ødegaard‘s ankle injury will keep him sidelined until after the October international break.

Ødegaard suffered the problem on Sept. 9 during Norway’s UEFA Nations League win over Austria with national team doctor Ola Sand subsequently ruling the midfielder out for three weeks. However, Arteta has been much cagier in his assessment of Ødegaard’s availability until speaking on Tuesday ahead of the club’s Carabao Cup third-round clash with Bolton Wanderers at Emirates Stadium.

«I think it will be a matter of weeks,» Arteta said regarding a timeframe for Ødegaard’s absence. «How long exactly, I cannot tell you. We might get a surprise but I think it’s unlikely [he returns before the international break].»

That would mean Arsenal having to cope without their captain for games against Bolton, Leicester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton. Their first match after the international hiatus is at Bournemouth on Oct. 19.

Ben White is also managing an unspecified fitness issue while Arteta confirmed Oleksandr Zinchenko [calf] will be ruled out for «a few weeks.» Mikel Merino is also unavailable after fracturing his shoulder, along with knee-injury victim Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Gabriel Martinelli, Jurriën Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and David Raya are all doubts to face Bolton and with back-up goalkeeper Neto cup-tied, Arsenal could have to call upon 16-year-old Jack Porter to start on Wednesday night.

«Let’s see how they are today and we will try to make a call on that, if we believe that is a possibility,» Arteta said.

Asked whether he would rotate heavily with 10 changes similar to other big teams in the competition, Arteta said: «At the moment we can’t because we don’t have another 10 players available.»