Martin Odegaard will not be included in the Arsenal squad for their Premier League match against Newcastle on Saturday.
The Arsenal captain has been sidelined since sustaining an ankle injury while on international duty with Norway on September 9.
He has missed 11 matches since then, and while he has made progress in his recovery, he is not yet ready to return to the pitch.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faces several injury concerns ahead of the 12:30 PM kick-off at St. James’ Park.
In addition to Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu have been ruled out, and Ben White is a doubt for the match.
“Riccy and Martin are out definitely,” Arteta said in his pre-match press conference on Friday morning.
“With Ben we don’t know yet.
“He could not train so let’s see what happens.”
On Gabriel Magalhaes, who went off injured against Liverpool last weekend. Arteta added: “If he can complete that training session today, he will be in the squad.”
Asked about Odegaard’s recovery, Arteta said: “Now is the stage when he’s going to start to do certain work with us.
“Let’s see if he deals with pain if physically he’s able to compete.
“With the work he’s put in, I would be surprised if when he’s back training with us we don’t say he’s ready.”
Odegaard is not expected to be sidelined for much longer, as Norway manager Stale Solbakken provided a positive update last week.
“Everything indicates that (Odegaard’s injury) is going according to plan, then it is about the last steps when you are going to train with opponents and at team training,” Solbakken told Verdens Gang.
“It depends on how he responds to it, but we have a justified hope that he is ready.
“I’ve spoken to him quite regularly.
“Now that it’s starting to progress, it’s easier, but it’s not fun to be injured.
“At the same time, he has been very little injured, so it is probably a training matter for him.”
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