Will Martin Odegaard play tonight? Arsenal captain joins squad for Inter Milan clash

Arsenal are hoping Martin Odegaard will tonight make his long-awaited return from injury.

The Gunners take on Inter Milan at San Siro this evening in their toughest test of the new Champions League 'League Phase', and have been boosted by their captain to the matchday squad.

Odegaard has not played for Arsenal since August, having suffered an ankle injury while playing for Norway at the start of September, but joined his Gunners team-mates on Tuesday's flight to Italy.

Will Martin Odegaard play tonight?

Given his long absence and the difficulty of the fixture, it is unlikely Mikel Arteta will throw Odegaard back into his starting line-up but minutes off the bench as a substitute are possible.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday evening, Arteta said of Odegaard: "The positive news is it’s great to have Martin back. Obviously he’s trained with us for the first time, a full session today.

"He felt good, it’s a bit earlier than we expected, but he wanted to be with the team, so we’ll decide tomorrow whether we use him, but at least it’s a big step that he’s travelled with us and is part of the team."

Odegaard has been left out of Norway's squad for the Nations League double-header against Slovenia and Kazakhstan later in November, but national team head coach Stale Solbakken says the midfielder could still join up with the group.

"We follow the situation day by day," Solbakken is quoted as saying by Norwegian outlet VG.

"As of now, Martin is not 100 percent ready to play, but we are in daily contact with both him and Arsenal. Then a decision will be made on that after the weekend ... both we and Arsenal are interested in him recovering."