Mikel Arteta has revealed Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is in the “final stage” of his rehabilitation from injury.
The Norwegian midfielder has been out since September after suffering an ankle injury while playing for Norway.
Arteta has confirmed Odegaard could return for the Gunners before the next international round of fixtures, with a trip to Chelsea on 10 November before the break.
“He’s been on the grass for a few weeks but there’s still a few boxes to tick,” Arteta said. “How fast we can do that last stage of the rehab is a question that would have to be answered once we have players around and he starts competing with the team something he hasn’t done yet.
“Hopefully [he can return before the international break], yes, but we’ll have to see how that stage goes.”
Norway boss Stale Solbakken is also confident he can have Odegaard available soon.
“Everything indicates that things are going according to plan,” the Norway manager told VG when asked if Odegaard would be ready to play for his country next month.
“So it’s about the last steps when you have to train with opponents and in team training. It depends on how he responds to that, but we have a legitimate hope that he is ready.”
Norway face Slovenia and Kazakhstan in the Nations League in November having been thrashed by Austria in their last outing.
Arsenal face three tricky tests in the week beforehand, with a visit to Milan to face Inter between league trips to Newcastle and Chelsea.