Worst news confirmed as Jurrien Timber succumbs to ACL injury

It became clear over the past couple of days that Arsenal would be without new signing Jurrien Timber for an extensive period, and the club have confirmed that an ACL injury will keep the defender sidelined.

Timber’s career in north London started strongly in pre-season, with his stellar summer form ensuring supporters weren’t overly concerned by Oleksandr Zinchenko’s slow return to fitness. The Dutchman started the opening Premier League game of the season on Saturday, but his outing was cut short due to a knee injury which he picked up just before half-time.

The medical team gave him the all-clear to go out and start the second half, but Timber lasted just a couple more minutes before being withdrawn. It wasn’t initially clear how serious his injury was before ominous murmurs started to surface on Monday.

Arsenal’s first update said the defender would undergo further assessment to “assess the full extent of the injury”, with the club’s latest update reporting an ACL injury that requires surgery.

Worst news confirmed as Jurrien Timber succumbs to ACL injury

Regarding Timber’s injury, the club wrote: “Further to detailed assessments with consultant specialists since Saturday, we can confirm that Jurrien Timber has sustained an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

“Jurrien will undergo surgery in the coming days and will be out of action for a period of time.

“The support and expertise from our medical team and everyone at the club will now be focussed on Jurrien’s rehabilitation programme, to ensure he recovers well and is back playing as soon as possible,” they concluded.

While the specificities of the injury nor a timeframe for his return were provided, we can presume that Timber has suffered an ACL tear which would likely see him miss the vast majority of his debut season at the club.

The 22-year-old may have only been at the club for two minutes, but his loss is a big blow for Mikel Arteta, who spoke glowingly of the Dutchman ahead of the Forest game. He was set to quickly become a key player in the Spaniard’s system given his versatility, but the Arsenal boss will not be able to call upon his services for quite a while.

The severity of Timber’s injury could tempt Arsenal back into the market for another defender given their lack of depth down the right side of their defence. The news may also change their stance regarding Kieran Tierney’s transfer status given Zinchenko’s injury woes since joining the club.

Nevertheless, we wish Jurrien all the best in his recovery and hope to see him back on the pitch as soon as possible!