Martin Odegaard Returns for Pre-Season Training
Martin Odegaard is back in the building.
Arsenal’s captain reported for pre-season duty at London Colney after his post-World Cup break, the club confirming his return with training images on social media. But while the rest of the senior squad head into match rhythm in Dublin, Odegaard will be watching from a distance.
Odegaard back, but not yet in the thick of it
The Norwegian has rejoined work with the fitness and medical staff at Colney, yet he will play no part in Wednesday night’s friendly against Real Betis. Arsenal’s main group is already in Ireland preparing for that game, and the timing of Odegaard’s comeback means this is a conditioning week rather than a competitive one.
It fits a clear pattern.
Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli returned late themselves last week after their World Cup campaigns with Brazil, and neither even made the bench for the subsequent match against Girona. The message from Arsenal’s staff is obvious: no shortcuts, no rush jobs. Players are being given a few days of controlled work before they are exposed to match intensity.
A staggered return, by design
The schedule underlines why Odegaard’s reappearance comes now. Brazil’s World Cup exit landed on July 5th, with Gabriel and Martinelli then filtering back first. Norway’s tournament ended on July 11th, so a one-week lag for their captain’s return lines up with that same logic.
By extension, the rest of Arsenal’s World Cup contingent should not be far behind. Those who went deeper into the competition wrapped up their involvement seven to eight days after Norway. The expectation inside the club is that all of them will be back at London Colney by Thursday of next week.
That leaves almost no breathing space before the Community Shield on Sunday, August 16th. The turnaround is brutally tight. With only a handful of sessions in their legs, there is little realistic anticipation that those late-returning internationals will play a major role at Wembley, if they feature at all.
Eyes on the Emirates Cup
For Odegaard, the first meaningful step back towards competitive action is more likely to arrive this weekend, when Arsenal host Borussia Dortmund in the Emirates Cup.
The template is already there. Against Girona, Piero Hincapie, Kai Havertz, and Viktor Gyokeres were each given around half an hour as they built their own sharpness. The expectation is that the two Gabriels will follow a similar pattern against Real Betis on Wednesday.
Odegaard should be next in line.
If his first minutes of the summer do come against Dortmund, they will be short, controlled, and carefully monitored. But for Mikel Arteta, simply seeing his captain back on the pitch, dictating the tempo again under the Emirates lights, would be a timely sight with a demanding season closing in fast.
