Journalist suggests Arsenal could do something drastic after serious Martin Odegaard injury

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Arsenal have received terrible news during the international break after Martin Odegaard suffered a serious ankle injury.

A strong challenge from Austria international Christoph Baumgartner – who has since apologised to Odegaard – looks set to sideline the Arsenal No.8 for a number of weeks, ruling him out of Sunday’s north London derby clash, and most likely, the upcoming trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City.

Now, Norwegian journalist Leif Welhaven has made a suggestion about what Arsenal could do after Martin Odegaard damaged his ankle…

Suggestion made that Arsenal could block stars from attending international duty

When writing a column for VG, Welhaven suggested that Arsenal could look to stop their best players from partaking in international duty going forwards.

The respected journalist describes the Gunners as “the very biggest loser” from this unfortunate situation, and told readers that nobody should be surprised if Arsenal decide to block call ups in future.

Welhaven adds that he believes national teams will start to “decline” in terms of the biggest players appearing, if it means elite clubs are losing their superstars for significant games.

It is also written that Norway could even be without Odegaard for the next round of UEFA Nations League clashes in the middle of October, but Welhaven believes there is a “field of tension” between the Gunners and Norway, so the north Londoners will care very little about whether the 25-year-old can feature in those games.

Mikel Arteta should consider it

Of course, Arsenal are never going to stop the likes of Odegaard, William Saliba, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice from appearing in significant fixtures for their country, but for the more meaningless games – like a UEFA Nations League clash – Mikel Arteta should give genuine thought to blocking involvement.

After all, Sir Alex Ferguson once stopped Steve Bruce from playing for the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup of all stages, as it would have made him unavailable for European games at Manchester United, as the 63-year-old once told Goals on Sunday.

You sometimes need to be stern and put your foot down when in a title race up against a juggernaut such as Manchester City, so perhaps it is time for Arteta to be a bit more ruthless when it comes to international fixtures.