Mikel Arteta is hopeful Martin Odegaard will return for Arsenal’s trip to Brentford and says he has no interest in selling Takehiro Tomiyasu amid transfer links to Bayern Munich.
Odegaard has missed Arsenal’s last three Premier League games because of a hip injury and did not play any part in his country’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Scotland.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Arteta said “hopefully yes” when asked whether Odegaard would return for the trip to Brentford, before adding “we have another training session today. But he’s been progressing well and hopefully he’ll be available.”
Arteta added that Gabriel Jesus is available for selection after playing the entirety of Brazil’s 1-0 defeat to Argentina at the Maracana, though he will be subject to checks after a long flight home, and confirmed Aaron Ramsdale will start in goal in place of the ineligible David Raya.
There wasn’t such encouraging news on Ben White, with Arteta admitting the versatile defender’s availability remains “a question mark” at this stage. Should he not be fit to start, it’s likely Bayern Munich-linked Takehiro Tomiyasu will continue at right-back in a backline also containing William Saliba, Gabriel and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
“I really want him to stay,” Arteta said of his desire to keep Tomiyasu at the club. “I value the player a lot. I really like him. He’s loved and respected by everybody at the club. He’s getting a lot of minutes now. He’s getting to a level of availability that we need to make an impact on the team. He will continue to be with us.”
The Gunners head into the weekend just a point adrift of leaders Manchester City, knowing a win will take them above the Premier League champions, Liverpool, or both depending on the result of their Saturday afternoon showdown at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal were victorious in their last league outing, downing Burnley 3-1 at home despite being reduced to ten players following Fabio Vieira’s dismissal.
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