Jurrien Timber explains how he’ll now ‘fit in’ as he nears Arsenal injury return

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber has made a commitment to come back stronger after his lengthy injury lay-off.

Jurrien Timber was unfortunate to see his Arsenal career get off to a nightmare start. 

On the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign, against Nottingham Forest, the Dutchman sustained an ACL injury which has kept him sidelined ever since.

Whilst Timber has made impressive progress in his recovery journey so far, it is still not a certainty that he will feature for the Gunners again this season. However, Arsenal are clearly optimistic that Timber will play a part yet, as he was included in their Champions League squad for the second half of the campaign.

The north London club paid £38 million to secure the 22-year-old’s services from Ajax in the recent summer transfer window. He made a bright start to life at Arsenal, impressing in pre-season. He has the versatility to play in any position across the backline, and is technically proficient enough to involve himself effectively in the build-up play further up the pitch. 

It will have come as a huge blow to Mikel Arteta to lose Timber so early on and for so long. The player’s absence has certainly been felt at times this season, as Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Ben White have all faced their own fitness issues. 

Jurrien Timber reveals Arsenal focus

However, Timber is determined to make the most of the time he is now spending in rehabilitation. In an interview with the club’s official website, the Netherlands international said, “these months will definitely make me stronger. It’s an opportunity for me to do well. So even though I’m not playing, I can take this moment to become stronger mentally, physically, and also to feel at home with this group of boys. It’s an opportunity I’ve taken with both hands. I’ve had some more time to watch the team, see how we play, how I can fit in when I get on the pitch, so looking at the positives, I think there have been many.”

Arteta will be delighted to see Timber adopting this approach to his recovery and it will stand the player in good stead to hit the ground running when he eventually does make a return to action.

Given they were not able to strengthen their defensive contingent in January, despite doing so having been a target for Arsenal, it is vital that they do not sustain any more major injuries in this part of the pitch in what remains of the current campaign. After all, it was the loss of William Saliba to injury ahead of the run-in that derailed the Gunners’ title tilt last season.