Martin Ødegaard has been omitted from Norway's squad for the upcoming international break as he continues his recovery from injury. The Arsenal captain participated in training with his club teammates on Tuesday, ahead of their Champions League fixture against Inter Milan.

The Gunners are set to travel to Italy for their fourth group-stage match, with hope that Ødegaard could make a long-anticipated return to the squad after being sidelined for two months.

Even if Ødegaard features on Wednesday night, he will still have two weeks in mid-November to work towards full fitness. Norway manager Ståle Solbakken opted not to select the 25-year-old for the Nations League matches against Slovenia and Kazakhstan.

This is the final international break of 2024 and the second since Ødegaard sustained his ankle injury while on duty with Norway. However, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been included in the squad.

Last month, Solbakken expressed optimism about Ødegaard’s recovery timeline, saying: "Everything indicates that things are going according to plan. It’s about the final steps now, when he needs to train against opponents and with the team. It depends on how he responds, but we have legitimate hope he will be ready.”

Ødegaard has been training outdoors with Arsenal over the past week, working towards returning to competitive play. "Now he’s at the stage where he’ll start doing specific work with us to see how he handles the pain," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said prior to their defeat to Newcastle. "If he moves naturally enough and is physically at the level required to compete, we’ll be able to judge. Given his work rate and the hours he’s put in, I’d be surprised if, once he begins training fully, we don’t declare him ready – hopefully very soon."

Ødegaard has not played since the end of August. Should he not make the squad against Inter, he will have another opportunity to return on Sunday when Arsenal face Chelsea before the two-week international window.