Journalist names one thing Arsenal will ‘never’ do with Jurrien Timber recovery plan

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Journalist Charles Watts has shared his thoughts on how the injury sustained by Jurrien Timber will be managed.

Arsenal spent £38 million in the recent summer transfer window to secure the services of Jurrien Timber from Ajax.

The versatile defender made a bright start to life at the Emirates Stadium. Impressing for Arsenal in pre-season and against Manchester City in the Community Shield clash at Wembley Stadium, Mikel Arteta looked to have unearthed another gem.

However on the opening day of the new Premier League season, disaster struck for Timber.

The 22-year-old sustained a serious ACL injury, requiring surgery, which will see him sidelined for the majority of the campaign.

This was, of course, a major blow to both the club and the player. 

Recently, though, there was a suggestion that the Dutchman may be able to return to action early as January. 

However, Charles Watts is convinced that Arsenal won’t rush the player’s recovery and that they will take a cautious approach to his rehabilitation process.

Arsenal playing it safe

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Watts said, “talk of him potentially being back early and playing a part in this season is still so way off, and even the medics wouldn’t be discussing that now.”

“It’s just a case of taking your time with him and making sure when he does come back that he’s as strong as possible and that there’s the best chance of him not re-injuring himself again as we’ve seen with cruciate ligament injuries before.”

Watts was adamant that the north London club won’t take any risks with Timber. He said, “they’ll never put a timescale on Timber’s recovery because you don’t want to put pressure on a player like that.”

Whilst Arteta would obviously love to have Timber back as soon possible, the player’s long-term health must take precedence. There’s no point rushing him back so that he can play a few extra games this season if that only tightens the chances of him suffering with more injury issues in future.

Timber is young, on a long-term contract at Arsenal, and will get his chance to shine in the Premier League.

In the meantime, Arteta has enough defensive options at at his disposal to cope with the 15-cap Netherlands international’s absence. The likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior may find that they get more opportunities to play as a result of their teammate’s injury.