After recovering from an incredibly unfortunate knee injury last season, Jurrien Timber is now thriving in an Arsenal shirt, a defender who plays with authority beyond his years.
Watching Timber for Arsenal over the past few months, it’s almost hard to believe that the former Ajax man is still only 23-years-old.
The Dutchman, who now has 18 caps for his country, has the physical aura to match how good he is on the ball in all areas of the pitch.
Arteta made a bold prediction about Timber in the summer, and it’s already ringing true.
That being said, the right-back’s performance in the 5-1 away win against Sporting CP was arguably Timber’s best display in red to date – sparking some interesting comments from fans.
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Arsenal fans can see why Mikel Arteta was so confident about Jurrien Timber
Taking to X in the days following Arsenal’s win in Portugal, fans are seemingly becoming increasingly excited about Timber, the more they analyse his recent performances.
One fan described Timber as an ‘alien’, meant in a positive way – an ode to how unique his skill-set is for a defender.
Another supporter protested that Timber was actually their player of the match against Sporting – an award that went to Bukayo Saka on the night.
“Perhaps my personal MOTM. Incredible baller. Moves like a cat. And those shoulder drops. He was involved in 3 goals yesterday and it could’ve been more.”
One fan harped back to Arteta’s praise of Timber over the past year or so, even when he hasn’t been playing.
“I now understand how and why Jurrien Timber was always getting praise from Mikel Arteta even while injured.”
And then there was one supporter who simply proclaimed Timber as an ‘absolute bargain’.
“Jurrien Timber. Wow. I knew he was good, but my word, he’s even better than I thought.
“How Arsenal had a free run at him last summer I have no idea. £38million. An absolute bargain.”
Perhaps the writing should have been on the wall following Timber’s spectacular goal during his injury return in the Premier League 2 last season, a remarkably talented player.
Could Jurrien Timber be an Arsenal captain one day?
Of course, such is his leadership on the pitch, it’s not impossible to think that Timber could one day be in the captain’s group at the Emirates Stadium.
Erik ten Hag shared some interesting Timber comments to that point in the past, a player who’s spoken about so highly by any manager he’s playing under.
In truth, Arsenal just now need the Dutchman to stay fit, ready to play 90 minutes on a consistent basis.
Of course, the same can be said for Riccardo Calafiori at left-back too, who has suffered similar minor set-backs to his fellow defender since he joined Arsenal.
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