Arsenal fans enraged as Martin Odegaard decision leads to Cole Palmer returning to Chelsea training

Arsenal fans are expressing their frustration after the club gave Martin Odegaard permission to represent Norway during the international break.

The Gunners are facing an anxious wait after their skipper was injured during last night’s 2-1 win over Austria.

Odegaard limped off midway through the second half after twisting his ankle following an awkward challenge from Christoph Baumgartner.

The 25-year-old was pictured boarding a private plane back to London on Tuesday with the aid of crutches and will undergo assessments at Arsenal’s training base.

Mikel Arteta’s side, already without Declan Rice and Mikel Merino, will now likely be forced to contend without their skipper for Sunday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

Providing an update on the playmaker’s situation in the immediate aftermath of last night’s match, Norway’s team doctor, Ola Sand, gave an encouraging but still uncertain update to TV2.

He said: ‘Martin is doing quite well now. He got a small ankle sprain. We will see throughout the evening and tomorrow what happens next and what we will do about it.

‘Ankle sprains are difficult to deal with straight away, so we almost have to see how things go forward

‘We will examine him when we are back at the hotel. Maybe we use ultrasound to look at it. If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow.’

Given Odegaard already appeared to be carry an injury heading into the international break after he failed to last 90 minutes against Brighton, Arsenal fans have been questioning the wisdom of letting him represent his country in the first place.

Arsenal’s misery, meanwhile, has been compounded by the sight of Cole Palmer returning to Chelsea training on Monday having pulled out of the England squad a week earlier.

The former Manchester City star cemented his place as an integral part of the Three Lions set-up following his eye-catching displays at Euro 2024 but will play no part in the first two games of Lee Carsley’s tenure.

Palmer was also left out of Chelsea’s Conference League squad in an effort to manage his workload more effectively amid fears of burnout and Arsenal fans are at a loss to explain why their club haven’t taken the same approach with Odegaard, especially ahead of a daunting run of fixtures.

‘So frustrating,’ lamented one supporter on X. ‘Palmer Watkins foden all backed out over literally nothing. And they all probs training. Odegaard was already playing with a knock and he went for another injury. Why do we never take out our players.’

Another commented: ‘I hope the Arsenal hierarchy are learning lessons. We can’t keep sending our injured best players to play unnecessary International tournaments. Odegaard already had a knock. Look at what Chelsea did with Palmer.’

And a third unhappy Gooner said: ‘Palmer, Foden, and others not going for international games but Arsenal have to be the nice guys and send our entire team out to get them injured. Why?’