Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is expected to be sidelined until mid-November due to the knee injury he is struggling with.
The Norwegian has been blighted by fitness issues so far this season, with shoulder problems followed by this current knee injury.
The 26-year-old had to be substituted in the first half of Arsenal’s win over West Ham on October 4 and it was unclear how long he was likely to be out for.
The BBC now reports that Odegaard will not be back until after the November international break, which means a possible return in the north London derby against Tottenham on November 23.
It is a blow for Mikel Arteta, who is facing a very busy schedule over the next month across a range of competitions.
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After the current international break, the Gunners are back into Premier League action on Saturday in a London derby at Fulham.
Then come outings in the Champions League, Premier League and Carabao Cup before the end of October.
Arsenal games Martin Odegaard is expected to miss
- Sat Oct 18: Fulham (a) Premier League
- Tue Oct 21: Atletico Madrid (h) Champions League
- Sun Oct 26: Crystal Palace (h) Premier League
- Wed Oct 29: Brighton (h) Carabao Cup
- Sat Nov 01: Burnley (a) Premier League
- Tue Nov 04: Slavia Prague (a) Champions League
- Sat Nov 08: Sunderland (a) Premier League
Arsenal are dealing with a number of injuries at the moment, with Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Noni Madueke all out of action with knee problems.
Havertz and Madueke are expected back at a similar time to Odegaard, while Jesus is unlikely to return from his long-term issue this year.
Nevertheless, their impressive spending in the summer means Arteta’s squad is still well-stocked, despite the four injuries to creative, attack-minded players.
The Gunners started the 2-0 win over West Ham with a midfield three of Odegaard, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze, behind Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard.
They have the squad depth to bring off the bench Gabriel Martinelli, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and Ethan Nwaneri.
Arteta will be frustrated to lose Odegaard again, though, having sung his praises after an impressive performance against Olympiacos earlier this month.
Arteta said of his captain after the 2-0 victory in the Champions League: ‘He’s got all the licence in the world to go forward, Martin, and to play with that freedom, and to play with that level of threat especially, not only with the passes, but the way he was taking the ball, carrying the ball, making runs and arriving in really dangerous areas.
‘I think he put three people through today to score a goal. He should have scored a goal as well.
‘So, great to have him back. He played some very good minutes in Newcastle to help us to win the game, and I think today he was phenomenal.
‘I think that creativity part is his nature. It doesn’t bring any pressure to him because it’s his best ability to generate things that not a lot of players can do. He has total freedom from my side to do and to explore and to take risks and to feel the movement and where he needs to generate those spaces. I think he’s certainly done that in the last two games.’