New Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber has shared his experience of seeing the club miss out on the Premier League title last season.
Jurrien Timber was plying his trade with Ajax last season, as Arsenal were pipped to the post by Manchester City in the Premier League title race. The north London club topped the table for the vast majority of the campaign, but Timber was forced to look on from afar as the Gunners faltered in the final few weeks of the season.
Timber was an Arsenal fan growing up, and got his chance to join the club in a £38 million move this summer. The versatile defender will be desperate to help his new club go one better in the Premier League this time around.
The 22-year-old won two league titles himself during his time with the Amsterdam giants, so knows what it takes to get over the line at the end of a long campaign.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, he shared his experience of seeing Mikel Arteta’s side miss out last season. Timber said, “it was painful. You could see Manchester City getting better and better and they were so hard to beat…it was hard to come back from that.”
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Arsenal have their eye on the prize
Manchester City have now won the Premier League for the past three seasons in a row. The Gunners may well be best-placed to attempt to end their dominance. The title hasn’t been won by the club since 2004, and Arteta will be desperate to bring the trophy to the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have invested heavily this summer to try and close the gap on the reigning champions. As well as Timber, they have brought in Kai Havertz, and shelled out a club-record £105 million for Declan Rice. Goalkeeper David Raya looks set to swell the ranks further very soon.
Whether these new additions prove enough to see Arsenal finish this season in 1st-place remains to be seen. One thing that is certain, though, is that it will mean as much to Timber as anyone if they manage it.