Given that Martin Odegaard is still “a long way” from being deemed totally healthy, Arsenal has suffered a serious setback.

Odegaard sustained an ankle injury during Norway’s victory over Austria, which has kept him out of action since the September international break. Halfway through the match, the Gunners captain hobbled off, and he hasn’t been able to play since.

He has missed draws with Manchester City and Atalanta during that time, in addition to victories over Tottenham and Leicester. Boss Mikel Arteta said last week that he could be able to return shortly following the October international break.

However, it seems like Stale Solbakken, the manager of Norway, has destroyed their dreams. Odegaard has been left off of the team that will play Slovenia and Austria in the Nations League by the former Wolves manager.

Solbakken gave an explanation for his choice, stating that the midfield player was still “a long way” from being selected and tying his absence to Oscar Bobb of Manchester City. However, he did disclose that Odegaard might rejoin the team during the interval, with Erling Haaland serving as captain in his place.

It would be naïve to claim that the fact that Martin and Oscar are out at the same moment has no significance. After all, Martin was absent for the final 35 minutes of our match against Austria,” Solbakken continued.

And we prevailed 1-0 in that segment of the game, so it’s not as though we doubt our ability to succeed without him. However, Martin is a vital member of the team and has been excellent in every recent game.”

Prior to Saturday’s victory over Leicester, Arteta stated his team was handling Odegaard’s absence well. However, he also implied that the skipper would return to action shortly.

“No (new timeline), but I believe it will happen in a few weeks,” he remarked. “I’m not sure how long exactly will be. Before the international break, there could be a surprise, but I doubt it.

“I would be extremely happy if you could put me in this situation before the season began, with the schedule we were given, the fixtures we had, the three away games we had, the number of injuries we had to deal with, and how we managed to overcome it.

“It’s not just Martin, obviously he’s one of our best players and a player that has more impact on the team in many ways, but there were many others as well and the team has coped extremely well because we have an exceptional group.

“Many players have embraced the challenge of taking on a different position in the team’s leadership and importance. That truly makes me happy. Obviously the influence that Martin had in our attacking phase is enormous, we cannot question that.

Since we lack it, we must modify the way we play and come up with extremely effective alternatives. Nothing will be the same. It will be different, but hopefully very efficient as well.”