After 66 days out and 14 matches on the sidelines for club and country, Martin Odegaard is back.
In the final week before this international break, Arsenal’s captain made his first appearances since picking up an ankle injury playing for Norway in September. After a brief substitute appearance against Inter Milan in the Champions League, he made his first start the following weekend, playing a full 96 minutes in a Premier League draw with Chelsea.
“I don’t know any other player in the league that is capable of doing that after six weeks out,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters after the latter match. “He had a day and a half, a training (session) and a half. Just physically and mentally to be connected the way he was with the team is unbelievable.”
That Odegaard could exhibit such stamina immediately upon returning is testament to the dedication he showed during his rehabilitation. Arsenal’s staff were delighted with how he followed their instructions, doing everything possible to accelerate his recovery. Whether it was wearing protective boots or undergoing red-light therapy, Odegaard left no stone unturned in his attempts to regain fitness as soon as possible.
His performance against Chelsea last Sunday caught the eye of the Norwegian Football Federation.
Manager Stale Solbakken had initially selected a squad without Odegaard, who is Norway’s captain, for their November games against Slovenia and Kazakhstan, but after seeing him back playing for Arsenal he was keen to have the 25-year-old midfielder involved.
Odegaard, who takes his responsibilities as captain very seriously, agreed to fly to Oslo to be assessed in person ahead of the Nations League double header.
It was a fleeting visit. After he arrived last Monday lunchtime, it quickly became clear the most beneficial thing for his ongoing rehabilitation would be load management and rest. By the end of Tuesday, he was back in the UK.
There’s certainly an argument that the dash home could have been avoided. But Norway have been enduring a run of difficult results, winning only three of the eight matches they’d played this year before the current international window, and Odegaard was keen to make his presence felt.
Solbakken’s response is not so different from that of Arteta — even when Odegaard is injured, his coaches want him around.
Arsenal were understandably cagey about revealing the extent of the ankle injury when it originally happened.
Their first game back after the September international break was the north London derby against Tottenham. In his pre-match press conference, Arteta refused to rule his captain out entirely, saying simply, “Players with 48 hours to go are always available, but let’s see what happens.”
Those within the club, however, were in little doubt as to the plausibility of Odegaard’s involvement. In the wake of being forced off against Austria, he had been using crutches and wearing a protective boot.
Then, when Arsenal took their official team photograph for the 2024-25 season a couple of days after beating Spurs 1-0, a ball was placed directly in front of his damaged left ankle to hide any swelling.
While out injured, Odegaard spent as much time as feasible in the Arsenal first-team environment, including going to every home game. Although he typically sat in his private box at the Emirates Stadium during the matches, he spent as long as he could in the home changing room beforehand, cutting it fine to make it up to his seat before kick-off. Similarly, he would sometimes leave the box before full time to ensure he was there to greet his team-mates in the dressing room afterwards. Even while unavailable to play, he remained part of the matchday routine.
That change in vantage point provided Odegaard with a silver lining. Watching from his box in the stadium’s upper tier, he was able to see the action from a different perspective. Now he is fit again, he hopes to apply some of the insights he gained to his game. Those who have worked closely with Odegaard say he thinks like a coach. His return to the team may provide an opportunity to put some of that into practice.
Odegaard has found his absence — particularly the inability to come to the aid of his team-mates — frustrating. It is relatively unfamiliar for him to be out so long: this was his most protracted spell out since a foot injury in 2018, and that one was partly across the summer break. His ankle problem forced him to miss 12 Arsenal matches across three competitions.
As club captain, he has responsibilities at Arsenal that extend beyond playing. He continued his column for Arsenal’s matchday programme, and to fulfil commercial commitments and media obligations — he was one of the attendees at a charity function last month to celebrate a partnership between the Arsenal Foundation and Global Gift Foundation.
Odegaard’s return to the matchday squad, for the Champions League game at San Siro on November 6, was planned several weeks in advance. As his rehabilitation entered its final stages, the club noted a week of three difficult away fixtures in succession — Newcastle, Inter and Chelsea. If they could have Odegaard available by then, they would do everything to make it happen.
Having him play in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off at St James’ Park was always seen as a best-case scenario. Even against the Serie A champions four days later, it was clear he was not capable of anything other than the briefest of cameos. But Arteta wanted him with the group in Italy. In the end, the club captain made a five-minute appearance off the bench. Then it was on to Stamford Bridge; a start, and that marathon effort to complete the game.
Now Odegaard is enjoying some well-earned respite.
The next period of games will determine whether Arsenal can get this season’s title challenge back on track.
Arteta will feel more confident knowing he can call upon his captain again.
(Top photo: Odegaard before the match against Inter; Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images)
