Arsenal news: Martin Odegaard's reaction shows true colours as Gunners star hits out

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Mikel Arteta will be using every moment of this international break to prepare for a gruelling run of fixtures in the coming weeks. Despite a frustrating 2-2 draw at Sunderland last weekend which ended their remarkable run of clean sheets, Arsenal will have gone into the break buoyed by their stellar opening three months to the campaign.

They are currently four points clear at the top of the Premier League table, while still boasting a 100% win-rate in the Champions League this season. But the Gunners simply cannot rest on their laurels, with the North London Derby against Tottenham coming on Sunday, November 23.

They will remain at home for their meeting with Bayern Munich in the Champions League three days later, before making the trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea .

Now, with late November and the festive period certain to throw up some surprises, we take a look at some of the latest stories surrounding the north London club.

Martin Odegaard was in the thick of Norway’s stunning celebrations on Thursday night as they went one step closer to clinching qualification for next summer’s World Cup for the first time in over two decades. The Arsenal captain, 26, has been absent since picking up a knee injury against West Ham prior to the October international break.

Odegaard therefore did not feature in Norway’s thumping 4-1 win over Estonia on Thursday, though he made sure to not miss the celebrations after the monumental victory. The playmaker was initially seen watching on anxiously from the stands and was later in the midst of the post-match festivities, both on the pitch and in the dressing room.

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He was seen wearing casual attire as he and his fellow Norway stars danced to booming music. football.london reported this week that Odegaard opted to join his national side during the international break, despite not being able to play, rather than taking a few days off.

His decision was driven by his desire to support his team-mates during what could be a historic week for Norway. Norway's head coach Stale Solbakken spoke about his captain's fitness earlier this week, telling reporters: "It is steady. It is going in a steady direction, but he is some distance away."

Gabriel Jesus has hit out at claims that he could leave Arsenal any time soon. The Brazilian, 28, has been sidelined since suffering an ACL rupture in the FA Cup clash with Manchester United in January.

He made his long-awaited return to first-team training earlier this month after a gruelling 10 months of rehab, and is now hoping to get his career back on track. But Jesus, who previously led the line for Arsenal, now has two big-money signings in Kai Havertz and summer arrival Viktor Gyokeres ahead of him in the pecking order, leading to suggestions that he may be surplus to requirements at London Colney.

But the former Manchester City man has insisted that now is not the right time to leave, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2027. "Coming back from such a complex surgery, it doesn’t make sense for me to leave Arsenal now," he told Brazilian publication Somos Fanaticos .

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Addressing the speculation around his future, a frustrated Jesus added: "When I feel it’s time to return to Palmeiras [his first club], I’ll decide that with Arsenal, but we’re talking about a player who’s been out for nine months and is now fighting to get back into the team, and there are journalists who are talking without any basis whatsoever."

Arteta has also spoken about how he intends to bring Jesus back into the fore, saying: "[He is] a player that is very unpredictable, full of energy, super competitive, a player that comes from a context of difficulty in the last few seasons for various nasty injuries.

"So the level of hunger and desire that he’s going to bring to the team is going to be amazing. So I’m thrilled to have him, I think he’s going to add something extra to the team that we don’t have and make sure that very soon we see him on that pitch making an impact for the team."