Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has praised defender Jurrien Timber following his comeback from an ACL injury.
Timber arrived at the Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2023, with the Gunners paying £34m to sign him from Ajax. However, he tore his ACL on his Premier League debut and was ruled out for most of his first season in England.
This term, however, has been different, with Timber playing in seven games for Arsenal so far this term, including six starts.
arsenal They have also bolstered their defense this summer with the signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna, and he too has had a run of starts in recent times.
Ahead of the UEFA Champions League clash at home to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, Arteta explained what the duo bring to their Arsenal team.
He said: “We missed Jurrien for 11 months and Riccy wasn’t here. They are two players who have the football brain, intelligence, courage, quality and adaptability to occupy different spaces attacking and defending .This gives the team a different dynamic and makes us unpredictable for the opponent to defend.And they are both great personalities.
“(The full-backs) have to have one thing in common: they love to defend first. The quality we have is fantastic. It’s very important to play full-backs who switch with their natural foot for flow and drives.”
When asked specifically what Timber is like as a character, Arteta replied: “A leader. A guy who is constantly thinking about how I can help others and bringing great quality to everything he does. Even in the short time that he’s been with us and the amount of time he’s spent on the pitch, for everyone to speak as highly of him as he does, that tells you everything about the personality we have in the team.
“He comes from Ajax, it was a big move, a different country. He comes here with expectations, he starts very well and then he gets injured in the first game. So what? You have to look ahead, eight, nine, 10, 12 months. and you can feel very alone and isolated from the team.This can be very disappointing and very difficult to handle personally and emotionally.
“He did the exact opposite. He started building incredible relationships with the physios and his teammates, he started gathering all the information he could about how we were playing and that really helped to understand him as a person and how we were doing. playing. a much better way and be ready when I come back.”
