Over six months since picking up a long-term injury on his Premier League debut, Jurrien Timber has participated in Arsenal first-team training for the first time.
The summer signing from Ajax impressed immediately in pre-season and in the Community Shield victory against Manchester City, and looked like he would become an instant fan favourite before being struck down with a cruciate ligament injury against Nottingham Forest in August.
It initially seemed likely that he would miss the entire league campaign this season, but Mikel Arteta did include the 22-year-old in the Champions League squad for the knockout stages, perhaps indicating that he could yet play some part.
Timber has now returned to training with the rest of the squad in what is a huge step in his recovery, but there is still a long way to go before he can return to competitive action.
Arsenal plans for Jurrien Timber recovery after training return
Journalist Charles Watts has now explained that Arsenal do not want to take any risks over Timber’s recovery, in what will be a crucial few weeks of training to ease him back in without causing further damage.
“Timber in contact training at the Emirates today, not just working on his own. Arsenal carefully managing his transition back into full training,” he posted on X.
This is a significant step in itself. Timber was able to return to solo outdoor training during the Dubai trip, but working with the ball and in contact with teammates represents a huge step up in intensity.
It appears that Arsenal will not just simply throw the Dutchman back into action, but ease him back into full training. Even if he is in contact training now, it is unlikely that they will want to see him flying into heavy tackles and risking another injury just yet.
Arsenal should not expect too much from Jurrien Timber this season
Arsenal find themselves in the Champions League knockout stages and in a three-way title race with Manchester City and Liverpool.
There are few remaining games in which Arteta can afford to take risks, and it would not be a surprise if Timber does not feature at all when he is eventually ready to make the step up into competitive action.
Even when the defender is cleared to participate in matches, he will still be heavily lacking in match fitness, and despite his fast start at the beginning of the season, he will need an adjustment period to fully settle back into the side, whilst also carefully monitoring his injury.
Expecting high performance levels instantly would be unrealistic, and there is a case to be made that the best way for him to reintegrate into the side would be to wait until pre-season and allow him more time to fully recover in training, and be able to return to action in a lower-pressure environment.
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