Jurrien Timber's summer just went from incredible to heartbreaking

Arsenal full-back Jurriën Timber is set to miss the entirety of the upcoming FIFA World Cup, the Dutch national team announced on Monday.

Timber has been one of the best full-backs, not just in the Premier League but also in the world over the last season.

His defensive attributes have only improved, and his connection with Bukayo Saka was really important going forward as well.

He's not a natural right-back, but if you watched him play without that knowledge, you would not be able to tell the difference.

Timber missed a good chunk of Arsenal's final games of the season, including the Champions League final, where Cristhian Mosquera started in his place.

Jurrien Timber's summer just went from incredible to heartbreaking

The bad news became worse on Monday when the Netherlands social media account announced that he would not be playing in any of the games.

The statement read: "The 24-year-old defender has not recovered sufficiently from a groin injury to take part in the World Cup in a medically responsible manner. In consultation with the medical staff, it has therefore been decided that Timber will leave the national team’s pre-camp in New York after the game against Uzbekistan. We’re with you, Jurriën."

It is a really big blow for Timber. It was obvious that he was one of the best players in that Arsenal squad. In fact, when asked who the best Dutch player in the Premier League was last season, Virgil van Dijk, one of the best central defenders of all time, simply answered with Timber's name.

If that is not an indication of how good a player is, when a rival team's Dutch player is calling him the best player from his country in the Premier League and not one of the three teammates he has from the same country, it shows you just how much he has improved over the last 12 months.

However, this type of setback will annoy Timber quite a bit. After a season as good as he has had, he would have loved to play in the World Cup, and for any player, it is really heartbreaking to miss the chance to represent their national team at the highest level.

For Timber, one could imagine it is even worse because of how much he provided to the Arsenal team and how much he could have provided to the Dutch national team this season.

It is worth noting that Timber is still fairly young and has not even entered his prime yet. There will be more international competitions where Timber can play more minutes and help the team more than he would have in the 2026 World Cup.

There will be more World Cups as well, and more chances to lift trophies, not just for his club but also for his country in the near and distant future.

Timber will obviously be annoyed, and rightfully so, but this is definitely not the end of the road for the Dutchman, who has come back from bigger setbacks in a much better way. There is no doubt that he can do the same this time around.

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