Forget Granit Xhaka… £38m Arsenal star is now being missed more than anyone

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Although Granit Xhaka has been missed this season, Mikel Arteta losing Jurrien Timber to injury so early in his Arsenal career has been huge.

Arsenal signed Timber from Ajax for £38m this summer, a player who was often linked with Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.

But it was ultimately Mikel Arteta that convinced Timber to arrive in North London to help his budding project.

And during pre-season it did quickly become clear just how important he could be.

It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that Timber looked like an immediate starter in Arsenal’s back line – and that’s saying a lot of after last season.

The familiar four: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Ben White looked untouchable after a close run to the title.

However, Arteta saw an opportunity to improve his Arsenal team with Timber.

The Dutch international looked to have Zinchenko’s playmaking ability, with the robust defensive attributes of Takehiro Tomiyasu.

And whilst Arteta is currently choosing between those two at left-back, he has the perfect middleman stuck at London Colney.

Losing Timber was a huge blow to Arteta’s plans at Arsenal this season

Mikel Arteta is never going to come out publicly and lament how disruptive Timber’s injury must have felt this season – he wouldn’t want to put down his existing group.

But the Spaniard must have been so frustrated to lose such an exciting enabler for this squad.

Timber allowed Arteta so much tactical flexibility at Arsenal, and that was taken away in one innocuous moment against Nottingham Forest.

It appeared that Arteta and Edu Gaspar were tempted to return to the market after the injury, but decided against a knee-jerk reaction.

Instead, Arsenal will make use of their current options, and that is probably why Tomiyasu continues to learn an inverted role.

Granit Xhaka has been heavily missed this season, and Arsenal may even regret their decision to sell the midfielder.

But no one has been missed more than Jurrien Timber for Arsenal, a defensive maestro who held the key to Arteta’s plans at the back.