Martin Odegaard has picked up an ankle injury on international duty, and it came the way these things so often seem to when Bernardo Silva is involved: a reckless, needless kick, late and long after the ball had gone. Our captain was caught by Silva in stoppage time of Norway's 2-1 Nations League defeat to Portugal in Oslo on Sunday, played on but visibly restricted, and has since missed Norway training. He is now a real doubt for their remaining fixtures and, more importantly for us, for our return to Premier League action against Leeds United on October 10.

The incident was as cynical as it was pointless. Odegaard had already released the ball on the edge of his own half when Silva went through the back of him. Silva was booked, which for a challenge like that is the usual outcome and, frankly, the usual let-off. Odegaard needed treatment, finished the ninety minutes because Norway had used their substitutions, and was seen limping towards the team bus afterwards. His own verdict was clear. He told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 that the challenge was the kind that "does not belong on a football pitch," and Norway assistant coach Brede Hangeland went further, calling it "ugly" and "dirty play." They are being polite.

Let me say plainly what a lot of us were thinking watching it back. Bernardo Silva has spent his entire Premier League career as a dirty player who gets away with it, a serial offender in the art of the sly, late, reckless challenge dressed up as commitment, forever escaping with a yellow when a red was closer to the truth. This was not a mistimed tackle from an honest competitor.This is something he has always done, and there was intent behind the kick. Silva is still vexed at us for last season, when we pipped his Manchester City to the title after they had grown accustomed to it being theirs by right. He carries that, and a stoppage-time swing at our captain in stoppage time after the ball had already gone is precisely how a player like that lets it out.

None of which changes the immediate problem, which is Odegaard's ankle.

Unclear as yet, and that is its own worry. Odegaard flagged it straight away, telling TV2 "I got a knock on my ankle there, so it probably will not be good tonight." He then missed Norway's Tuesday training session, putting his availability for their game against Wales in doubt and setting the alarm off for us. Norway manager Stale Solbakken confirmed his medical staff are in near-constant contact with ours, which is standard procedure but also a measure of how closely this is being watched.

The reason it lands harder than an ordinary knock is history. Odegaard suffered an ankle injury on Norway duty in 2024-25 that kept him out for around two months and helped trigger the run that cost us in that title race. Any ankle problem now, the same joint, the same circumstances, brings that straight back. There is a little encouragement in Hangeland's follow-up that Odegaard was in less discomfort by Wednesday, but no scan result has been confirmed, so the honest position is worry rather than relief until we know more.

More than any other injury in the squad, this is the one that changes how we play. Odegaard is the axis of our build-up, the man who receives between the lines and unlocks massed defences, and he has been superb this season, scoring the winners against Chelsea and Napoli within days of each other. When I wrote after the Sunderland win that we were leaning too heavily on individual moments to win games, a lot of those moments were his. Remove him and the creative load does not pass cleanly to anyone else we have.

The timing makes it worse. We are already absorbing Kai Havertz's muscle strain from this same international window, and we are coming off our first defeat of the season at Brighton, a game that already showed how flat we look when the creativity dries up. Losing Odegaard on top of that would test this squad's depth in the one area it is hardest to cover, with Ethan Nwaneri, who could have deputised, now on loan at Dortmund.

The one mercy is the calendar. The extended international break leaves nearly two weeks before Leeds, and a knock rather than something structural could settle in that time. We will know once the assessment is done, and Odegaard being back in our medical staff's hands rather than Norway's will speed that up. For now: a cheap kick from a player who has made a career of them, a sore ankle, and a fortnight to find out what it costs us. Silva will not lose a moment's sleep over it. Neither the challenge nor the man surprises me.