[Photo] Arsenal star Martin Odegaard on crutches as he flies back to London

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been spotted in crutches boarding a private jet as he prepares to fly back to London to have his injury assessed ahead of Sunday’s huge clash against Tottenham.

Odegaard went left on the ground in severe pain following a challenge from behind by Christoph Baumgartner during Norway’s 2-1 win over Austria on Monday night.

The Arsenal skipper was in tears as he hobbled off the field midway through the second half with Norway’s manager admitting after the game that the injury looked to be a ‘bad’ one.

The national team doctor Ola Sand then provided a more detailed update, confirming that Odegaard has suffered a ‘small ankle sprain’. However, more time is needed to determine the extent of the injury with the midfielder needing an ultrasound or MRI scan to confirm the full damage.

Sand is quoted as saying:

“Martin [Ødegaard] is doing quite well now. He got a small ankle sprain. We will see throughout the evening and tomorrow what happens next and what we will do about it. “It is currently difficult to say anything about the extent of the damage. Ankle sprains are difficult to deal with straight away, so we almost have to see how things go forward. “We will examine him when we are back at the hotel. Maybe we use ultrasound to look at it. If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Crutches

Odegaard has now been spotted on crutches boarding a private jet as he flies back to the UK to have his injury further assessed by Arsenal’s medical team.

🛩️🇳🇴 Ødegaard, on crutches returning to England to be assessed by Arsenal staff.

Pic via @vgsporten 📸 pic.twitter.com/EAlbq2pRRg

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 10, 2024

Odegaard will be checked over by Arsenal’s medics when he lands in London but well-known Doctor Rajpal Brar provided an update on the midfielders potential injury timeline.

Talking on X, Brar claimed that a grade 1 ankle injury could take up to 2 weeks to heal, while a more serious Grade 3 injury could take up to 6 weeks.

For those interested, a little more depth on Ødegaard’s ankle injury#arsenal pic.twitter.com/dIZp0WJhpJ

— Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT (@3cbPerformance) September 9, 2024

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta will now be praying for good news as it would be a major blow for Arsenal if they were to lose Odegaard at such an important part of the season.

The attacking midfielder is now expected to miss Sunday’s huge North London Derby against Tottenham at the New Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Arsenal also have a monumental title clash against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on September 22nd as well as important Champions League games against PSG and Atalanta coming up.

Losing Odegaard for these vital games would be a huge blow for Arsenal and leave Arteta short of midfield options. Declan Rice will miss the trip to Tottenham through suspension while summer signing Mikel Merino has been ruled out until late October after fracturing his shoulder during his first training session with the club.

Thomas Partey and Jorginho are expected to start against Spurs but it remains to be seen who will replace Odegaard in the creative midfield role.

Arsenal are also sweating over the fitness of Riccardo Calafiori after he picked up an injury playing for Italy last week while Gabriel Jesus is also a doubt having missed the last two games with a groin injury.