Mikel Arteta thinks rarely-seen Arsenal 22-year-old has been ‘special’ at Colney

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Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has praised how Jurrien Timber reacted at London Colney following surgery on his ACL injury amid fears of a setback in the defender’s recovery.

The 22-year-old joined the Gunners this summer from AFC Ajax in a £34m, rising to £38.5m with add-ons, transfer. But Arteta has so far been unable to take advantage of what Timber brought to north London. He suffered an ACL injury on his Premier League debut in August.

Timber went down unchallenged holding his leg early in the second half against Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium. The severity of the injury would be devastating. It threatened to rule the 15-cap Netherlands enforcer out for most, if not all, of his first season with Arsenal.

Timber has suffered a setback in his recovery from an ACL injury

Now, though, fears are rife that Timber will not return from his ACL injury until next summer at the earliest. Ben Jacobs notes that the defender has suffered a setback in his recovery at London Colney. It has ruined a best-case scenario return date the Gunners set as early April.

Timber would have been a key cog in Arteta’s side but for the injury suffered just 50 minutes into his Premier League debut. The Utrecht native settled in straight away during pre-season to play regularly as a left or a right-back. He is also a natural centre-half but faces a year out.

Arteta feels Timber impressed ‘everybody’ at Arsenal right away

Arteta has now reflected on how Timber adapted brilliantly to life at Arsenal after arriving in July from Ajax. The defender had spent nine years at the Amsterdam outfit having signed for their academy in 2014. He advanced to play 121 senior games and won the Eredivisie twice.

An injury, however, scuppered what may have been a very promising first season at Emirates Stadium. Arteta states that Timber impressed ‘everybody’ at Arsenal with his character right away. And he has continued to stand out with how positively Timber responded to his injury.

“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant,” Arteta noted, via football.london. “You talk to anybody in that building, everybody that gets close to him, they’ll tell you he’s a really special character.

“We were really impressed when we signed him because when you see the player training in our environment, you go: ‘Wow! What an incredible player!’

“But that player had a really big setback and a difficult moment to go through. He’s been really special with how he’s gone through that situation. Really special.”