Declan Rice injury update as Mikel Arteta confirms blow for Arsenal star

Declan Rice will miss Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan through injury with the midfielder also a doubt for Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Chelsea.

Rice, 25, played the full 90 minutes of Arsenal’s disappointing 1-0 defeat at Newcastle at the weekend, the midfielder’s ninth appearance in the Premier League this season.

Arsenal’s win at Tottenham remains the only top-flight match in which Rice has not featured, with the England international forced to miss the derby through suspension following his controversial sending off against Brighton.

But Rice was notably absent from training at London Colney this morning and did not join the rest of Mikel Arteta’s squad on board their flight to Milan.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Mikel Arteta confirmed a knock Rice suffered at St James’ Park has prevented him from travelling to the San Siro.

He will undergo further assessment later this week ahead of this weekend’s trip to Stamford Bridge.

‘Declan unfortunately picked an injury against Newcastle,’ Arteta said.

‘He was able to finish and he wasn’t feeling good the last few days. We’ll have to assess him on Thursday and see if he’s ready for Chelsea.’

Odegaard could be in line to feature against Inter (Picture: Getty)

One saving grace for Arsenal is Martin Odegaard’s impending return to first-team action. The Norway midfielder has been sidelined since the start of September with an ankle injury but there are hopes he could be involved versus Inter.

Odegaard has not played for the Gunners since the side’s 1-1 draw with Brighton in late August and will no doubt be chomping at the bit to make a contribution in Milan.

Unlike Rice, Arsenal’s captain trained as normal today and travelled to Italy with the rest of Arteta’s party.

‘The positive news, Martin it’s great to have him back,’ Arteta said.

‘He trained with us first time today. He’s a bit earlier than expected. But it’s great to have him here and we will decide if we use him tomorrow.’

The north London giants have also been boosted by Gabriel Magalhaes’ comeback at St James’ Park, though defensive duo Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain sidelined.

Arteta’s men have picked up seven points from a possible nine without conceding a single goal in the Champions League, starting with a goalless draw at Atalanta before wins over PSG and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Arsenal’s hosts, Inter, have also accumulated seven points from their three opening Champions League games and sit seventh in the table.

The Serie A giants started their campaign with a commendable goalless draw away to Manchester City and Simone Inzaghi’s side followed this up with victories over Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys.

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