As Arsenal prepare to welcome Sporting to North London for their second leg in the Champions League Quarter Final, manager Mikel Arteta will be looking over who can fight for a spot in the next round.
Odegaard is not one of these players after he missed six weeks of action due to a knee problem before he returned last week to start in the FA Cup defeat to Southampton.
Arteta is without Mikel Merino, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Declan Rice, Jurrien Timber but most importantly Odegaard who went down off the ball in the first leg against Sporting.
Speaking ahead of the second leg, the Norwegian revealed that he is keen to get back on the pitch, but he is suffering once more with his knee.
"I had to go off during the second half of that game in Portugal last week, feeling my knee, which is why I missed the game at the weekend," Odegaard wrote in his programme notes.
"I caught it a little bit against Sporting, but hopefully it shouldn’t be too bad.
"I’m desperate to get back as soon as possible because this is the crucial period of the season, in the Premier League and Champions League."
With the World Cup approaching, Odegaard to will be keen to return only when he is fully fit, Rushing him back with just a few games of the season remaining could make his injury worse, something that fans as well as Arteta would be desperate to avoid.