Arsenal's Martin Odegaard will rejoin his teammates following friendly with Real Betis
Norway's midfielder Martin Odegaard gets off the plane after Norway's national football team landed at Oslo's Gardermoen Airport on July 13, 2026. Norway were knocked out in the quarter-final match against England. (Photo by Jan Langhaug / NTB / AFP via Getty Images) / Norway OUT(Image: Jan Langhaug / NTB / AFP via Getty Images)
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Martin Odegaard is the next Arsenal player set to regroup with his teammates following an extended break, football.london understands.
The club captain reached the World Cup quarter-finals with Norway before his English teammates helped eliminate them from the competition.
With players being granted three weeks’ holiday, Odegaard has missed Arsenal’s opening two matches of the summer. A behind-closed-doors friendly with MK Dons before the first official game against Girona in Spain which was a 4-1 victory.
He will sadly miss the game against Real Betis in Dublin on Wednesday and will rejoin his teammates in London instead when they return after their clash with the La Liga side.
Odegaard missed much of last season due to several injuries to his shoulder and knee. Eberechi Eze managed to oust the skipper for much of the second half of the season before Odegaard rediscovered some form.
His strong World Cup bodes well for the forthcoming campaign despite links with an exit earlier in the window. football.london dispelled claims of an agreement with Galatasaray and was able to reaffirm the player’s happiness at the club with hopes of contract talks due to open in the near future.
Odegaard’s return this week could mean he can feature in the clash with Borussia Dortmund, to some capacity, on Sunday. Before a much more likely reintroduction against Como the following Wednesday.
Bukayo Saka, football.london understands, is also due back following Odegaard’s own return. Mikel Arteta has admitted that Declan Rice has already been enquiring about when he can come back to the group to be ready for the new Premier League season.
“We have three different pre-seasons with different groups,” he told the Arsenal website. "But the most important thing is not the programme, it is the attitude behind the programme.
“When I speak to Kai, he is desperate to come back tomorrow and Viktor the same and Piero the same. And when I speak to Declan, he is already talking, 'OK, if I come this day, then I can play (then)', and the rest the same. And that is much more powerful than the programme.”