Martin Odegaard has been forced out of Norway’s Nations League clash with Austria on Monday night, limping out of the contest and looking in serious pain.
The Arsenal captain went over on his left ankle under a challenge from Austria’s Christoph Baumgartner and could not continue.
The 25-year-old was clearly struggling and had to be helped from the pitch with the help of two trainers as he winced in pain.
The severity of the issue is not yet known, but it looks very concerning for Arsenal ahead of the north London derby against Tottenham this weekend.
Former Norway striker Jan Aage Fjortoft, who played in England for the likes of Middlesbrough, Barnsley and Swindon, described the situation as a ‘worrying’ one.
‘Worrying scenes at Ullevaal Stadium. Seems that our captain Martin Ødegaard twisted his ankle. Just had to leave the pitch unfortunately,’ Fjortoft wrote on X.
Odegaard was replaced by Kristian Thorstvedt 67 minutes into the game in Oslo which finished 2-1 to the home side after a late Erling Haaland winner.
Arsenal face a nail-biting wait to see how bad the injury is, but Mikel Arteta is already missing a number of players for Sunday’s short trip to Tottenham.
Declan Rice is suspended after a red card against Brighton, summer signing Mikel Merino is out injured, as is Takehiro Tomiyasu.
There are doubts over Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus but both could be in contention by Sunday.
Spurs, in contrast, only have Richarlison ruled out, while Dominic Solanke and Micky van de Ven are doubts but hopeful of proving their fitness.
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