Arteta on Odegaard’s ‘far from ideal’ injuries and North London Derby involvement | OneFootball

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says it has been tough for Martin Odegaard to be on the sidelines through various injuries during his side’s chase for the Premier League title.

Gunners captain Odegaard’s season has been disrupted by a variety of different injuries, including two with his shoulder in September, a knee issue that saw him miss eight matches between October and November, and most recently a muscle problem that has him as a doubt for the North London Derby against Tottenham.

In total, the Norwegian international has featured in 19 Premier League matches, but only completed 1,065 minutes. With a plethora of players out with long-term injuries, the Spaniard was understanding in his captain’s struggles this campaign, praising his side for how they have dealt the adversity.

“We’re missing him for the biggest part of the season,” Arteta said. “You see the percentage of times that he’s been available or not with us is far from ideal. But again, he’s been part of that journey in this year to deal with a lot of injuries and a lot of important players out, like we have right now. 

“And the team has done extremely well to maintain the level.

“Injuries are probably the worst part of our profession. And when a player has a big sequence of events and understanding Martin as well and how involved he wants to be in the team, it is tough. So yeah, we’ve been very close to him.”

Odegaard’s availability for the North London Derby is under review, having been injured since Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford, but Arteta says he could be involved in any pre-match team talk regardless.

“Depends. That normally comes from them. If somebody wants to say something or they have discussed with the leadership group what they really think that is going to make the difference on the day, they have absolute freedom to do that.

“So if he wants to do that, more than welcome. When it comes from them, much more powerful.”