Martin Odegaard offers Arsenal fans optimistic injury update as midfielder says recovery 'looks better' than expected

Odegaard hasn't played since suffering significant ligament damage while representing Norway in the Nations League in early September. While it's not clear when the 25-year-old will be back on the pitch, he's provided a positive update that suggests he will return earlier than originally thought.

It quickly became clear that Odegaard's injury was a severe one, with the midfielder himself admitting to being "scared" at missing a lengthy period of time. But thankfully, his absence hasn't been felt when it comes to results; Mikel Arteta's side have won all three games that Odegaard has missed, including a 3-1 win against Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Writing in Arsenal's programme before the Southampton win, Odegaard wrote: "I just wanted to start with the latest on my injury and rehab. In the last week or so I've made really good progress. I'm getting better and better by the day and feel it's going well. When you feel like things are moving forward, it gives you motivation to do more and more and work harder. Today is our last game before another international break, so that gives me some more time to work on the rehab too.

"Hopefully, it won't be much longer; I think we will know more as soon as I get out on the training pitches and we see how my ankle responds to that. At the moment it's progressing well and it looks better than we were thinking, but we've still got to take every day as it comes."

Odegaard, now out of a protective boot, will aim for a swift return to boost Arsenal as their schedule intensifies, with Liverpool, Newcastle, Inter Milan, and Chelsea among their October and November opponents.