Mikel Arteta confirms new Martin Odegaard Arsenal injury return timeline after 'crucial' update

The latest Arsenal injury news with Mikel Arteta delivering a big Martin Odegaard return statement amid his ongoing recovery from an ankle issue.

Mikel Arteta has shared a huge Martin Odegaard return admission in his latest Arsenal injury update. The Gunners manager has had to navigate the last four weeks without his star man - and captain - after the Norway playmaker suffered ankle ligament damage while playing for his country during September's international break.

The latest two-week pause has afforded him more time to recover - with the 25-year-old spotted in the gym at London Colney on an alterG Anti-Gravity treadmill which helps those rehabbing from injury. Despite the hope he could return ahead of schedule, he will not feature in the Premier League clash against Bournemouth on Saturday.

"He's not going to be fit for this game," Arteta revealed when asked for the latest on Odegaard. "Next week will be a different story. He needs to clear some markers doing things with the ball in that latter stage of rehab. Next week will be crucial to understanding how close he is," the manager went on.

Alongside Odegaard's absence, Arteta has also had to contend with the likes of Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Oleksandr Zinchenko being absent. Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli are all slight doubts to face Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, too.

The aforementioned trio appear to be very close to returning, with Arteta also confirming that Saka's injury is "not serious". As for Havertz and Martinelli, a late call looks set to be made with Arteta admitting it will likely depend on how they respond to Friday's training session.

Arteta is never one to give too much away on injuries, especially when it comes to confirming availability or return dates. However, he has seemingly bucked that trend regarding Odegaard and when he was asked if the Norwegian midfielder would feature before November's international break, he replied: "Yes. Hopefully, yes."

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There are seven games across these next four weeks for Arsenal before another domestic break takes place with several of those matches looking to be very challenging on paper. In Premier League action, the Gunners will take on Bournemouth, Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle.

As for the Champions League, fixtures against Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan are on the horizon with a Carabao Cup tie at Preston also to be contested. The final match before the break sees Arsenal head to Stamford Bridge and Arteta will be hoping Odegaard can feature in some capacity by then.

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