Step aside Rice and Gabriel, ‘incredible’ Arsenal star deserves player of the season award for what he’s done for Mikel Arteta

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Several Arsenal players have enjoyed exceptional seasons under Mikel Arteta.

Declan Rice has been brilliant since the turn of the year, carrying the Gunners through some difficult periods with a number of heroic performances.

Gabriel Magalhaes was arguably Arsenal’s best player before suffering a season-ending injury earlier this month.

The likes of William Saliba, David Raya and even injury-plagued Bukayo Saka can stake a claim to win the club’s player of the season award when it’s handed out in a few weeks, although one man who has perhaps gone under the radar has to be in the conversation.

• READ MORE: Bukayo Saka leaves ex-Tottenham player with egg on his face after ‘disgrace’ verdict on the Arsenal star

Jurrien Timber is a serious contender for Arsenal’s player of the season award

Suffering a devastating ACL injury on his Premier League debut last season, Jurrien Timber would’ve been forgiven for enduring a rusty, stop-start campaign this time round.

It’s been far from that for the Dutchman, who has arguably been Arsenal’s most consistent player this term.

Featuring in 29 of the Gunners’ 32 Premier League matches, starting 26 of them, Timber has shown remarkable durability for someone returning from such a significant setback.

Extremely reliable defensively, dangerous when carrying the ball and steady in possession, the 23-year-old hasn’t put a foot wrong all season.

Ben White was ruled out for three months between November and February after undergoing surgery on his knee, while Takehiro Tomiyasu has managed just one cameo appearance for the Gunners this campaign due to fitness issues.

Arteta was forced to ask Timber to play almost every single minute throughout the congested period when White and Tomiyasu were both out, and he did so, whilst maintaining an exceptional level and showing no signs of fatigue.

To perform so consistently every three days in such a physically demanding role is outstanding, and he deserves plaudits for it, potentially in the form of the player of the season award.

Jurrien Timber’s statistics 2024/25

Arteta described Timber as ‘incredible’ earlier this month, in one of the rare moments that the former Ajax man has been given the recognition he deserves.

Completing 85% of his passes, despite operating mostly in the middle and final thirds, Timber retains the ball excellently, while helping the Gunners get up the pitch through his passing and carrying.

Defensively, the Netherlands international is rarely dribbled past, while he makes over two tackles per game, normally high up the pitch as Arsenal look to suffocate the opposition.

The one step he could make in his game that would see him surpass White in all aspects would be contributing more in the final third, which is certainly something he’ll be working on ahead of next season.