Arsenal Captain in Final Stages of Recovery from Injury after 2 Months Out

FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
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Arsenal Captain in Final Stages of Recovery from Injury after 2 Months Out

FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)
FILE - Arsenal's Martin Odegaard reacts at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is in the final stages of his recovery from an ankle injury after nearly two months out, manager Mikel Arteta said Friday.
Arteta said Odegaard wouldn’t play against Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday but didn’t rule the midfielder out of the trip to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
“Now is the stage where he is going to do certain work with us. Let’s see how he deals with pain and if his movement is natural enough,” Arteta said.
“He’s physically now at the level required to compete. With the work rate and hours he has put in, I’d be surprised that the moment he starts training with us, he looks ready. Hopefully soon.”
Odegaard was injured playing for Norway in a Nations League group-stage match on Sept. 9 and Arsenal has missed his creativity and leadership. After collecting just one point from its last two games, Arsenal is in third place, five points behind leader Manchester City.
Arteta said left back Riccardo Calafiori would also miss the Newcastle game because of injury but fellow defender Gabriel will be in contention if he trains well on Friday.



Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)

Bayern Munich have enough talented players to replace injured striker Harry Kane, starting on Tuesday with their German Cup round of 16 tie against holders Bayer Leverkusen, coach Vincent Kompany.

The England captain, who has netted 20 goals across all competitions this season and leads the Bundesliga scorers' list with 14, suffered a thigh muscle injury in Saturday's 1-1 league draw at Borussia Dortmund.

Kane is expected to be out for a couple of weeks but Kompany said he hoped he could still return to action before the winter break starts on Dec. 22. Bayern are top of the Bundesliga with a four-point lead over Eintracht Frankfurt.

"It is difficult to say at this moment but there is a chance for him to still play this year," Kompany told a press conference on Monday.

"But he will miss several games and to replace him, you know you cannot replace the goals or the player one-for-one. That's why he is a top player."

Kompany said players like Thomas Mueller, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise and Leroy Sane had enough experience to fill the gap.

"We have talent in the team and need to solve it differently. We won't be lacking talent tomorrow but it will look different," Kompany said.

"We have many options. Thomas Mueller, Mathys Tel, Gnabry, Olise, Leroy. I now named almost everyone. Obviously, Harry has scored 20 goals... but we have dangerous players in attack."

Bayern last won the German Cup in 2020 and have failed to get past the quarter-finals since, losing in the second round in three of the past four seasons.

"We play the Cup holders tomorrow. One of the top two or three games in Germany, and I hope our performance will match the importance of the game," Kompany said.