Arsenal say Odegaard clear for League Cup, Lacazette training again after Covid

Arsenal’s new signing Martin Odegaard is available for Wednesday’s second-round League Cup game at West Bromwich Albion, while forward Alexandre Lacazette resumed training after his Covid-19 diagnosis, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.

Arsenal are second from bottom of the table after losing their first two matches and manager Mikel Arteta said the squad had been hit by Covid-19 cases and injuries.

Arsenal signed Norway international Odegaard from Real Madrid on a permanent deal last week, but the 22-year-old missed Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Chelsea because the north London club were awaiting his visa clearance.

Lacazette was among four players at newcomers Brentford after testing positive for Covid-19.

Newly-signed centre back Ben White, who contracted the virus before last weekend’s game, is unavailable for Wednesday, with his health being monitored ahead of Saturday’s Premier League match away to champions Manchester City.

Defenders Hector Bellerin, Gabriel Magalhaes and Kieran Tierney and forward Gabriel Martinelli are back in training, but Thomas Partey and Eddie Nketiah won’t be training again until the end of August and early September respectively, Arsenal said.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.