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Summer signing Jurrien Timber sustained a serious injury on his home Arsenal debut and is set to spend a significant spell out on the sidelines and now the Gunners must work out how to replace him – we’ve got some ideas.
Is Jurrien Timber injured?
Indeed, the Dutch right-back, who arrived from Ajax, was signed in a deal reported to be in the region of £38m but lasted just 50 minutes into his first Premier League appearance – a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest – before coming off with a knee issue.
Sadly, the North London club have since confirmed the severity of the injury, releasing a statement saying: “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.”
With that in mind, Football Fancast has decided to figure out who will be best suited to take his spot in the team.
Of course, though, it won’t just be as simple as trying to find depth at left-back, as Timber was able to cover centre-back and right-back as well; meaning William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Ben White will hope to stay fit or else Rob Holding could soon be straight back into the starting team.
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Zinchenko is obviously the first name that comes to mind as he played left-back for the Gunners 27 times in the league last season.
Still, he had some fitness struggles too and has carried that into the new season, having not been fit enough to be involved against Forest or Manchester City in the Community Shield before that.
The good news, however, is that Zinchenko has been spotted in training this week on Arsenal.com, so he could be nearing a return to full fitness shortly.
Takehiro Tomiyasu
With Zinchenko recently out, Tomiyasu was the player asked to come on off the bench for Timber against Nottingham Forest last Saturday and may well start there this Monday away at Crystal Palace.
Still, the Japan international has also had some fitness issues in recent times. Having missed 107 days of action last term, he too can’t be fully trusted to remain healthy for a full campaign.
What’s more, Tomiyasu isn’t a natural left-back either, having only played there nine times in his career (via Transfermarkt), as he tends to play right-back or centre-back more frequently.
Of course, the same can be said about Timber – who wasn’t signed to be a left-back, having spent very little time (eight games before joining) in that position before – so the Japanese defender may need to cover multiple areas of the pitch, leaving a gap on the left side of the defence.
Jakub Kiwior
The Polish defender arrived last January and while his first three starts in the Premier League saw him play at centre-back, Arteta moved him to left-back for the final two games of the season.
Such versatility may come in handy now, especially as Kiwior is left-footed and so may be a more natural fit than the right-footed Tomiyasu.
It’s interesting to note that Kiwior was trusted to finish the season at left-back last term, despite Kieran Tierney being available – who we’ll come onto now.
Kieran Tierney
The Scottish left-back would be a first name on the team sheet for many teams across Europe but he just doesn’t seem to fit into Mikel Arteta’s plans.
After all, having started 22 league games in the 2021/22 season, Tierney started just six last term as he well and truly lost his spot in the team to Zinchenko.
As a result, it seems quite likely that he will be sold this summer. And what’s more, as per a report in the Daily Mail, the expectation, despite Timber’s injury, is for Tierney to be sold – provided the Gunners receive a suitable fee.
However, if Arsenal don’t receive an acceptable offer, perhaps it will make more sense to hang on to the Scot for the time being.
Transfer targets
In that same report, Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo is named as a known target – although reports in Spain have strongly linked Barcelona with the fullback as well.
In less glamorous news, according to the Daily Express, Arsenal could turn to Southampton full-back Kyle Walker-Peters or Leicester City’s Timothy Castagne before the summer transfer window shuts.
While Tom Canton of football.london has mooted Mohamed Simakan and Benjamin Henrichs, who both play in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig and have been linked with the English club in the past.
There is certainly plenty to consider for Arteta and with the transfer window closing in just a matter of weeks, he may have to make a big decision soon.