One of the biggest blows for Arsenal this season was the knee injury suffered by Jurrien Timber after only his first Premier League game for the club.
The 22-year-old showed so much promise in pre-season and during Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Manchester City, but it was over after that opening game win over Nottingham Forest.
In recent weeks, Jurrien Timber has shown promise as he continues to recover in the treatment room, with Mikel Arteta adding that there is a ‘realistic’ chance he will play again before the final ball is kicked in May.
Whilst the Arsenal boss provides that hope, the same can’t be said for Ian Wright, who can’t see the versatile defender coming back in time, as he told Premier League Productions (05/02/24 at 2:30 pm).
After the Gunners secured a valuable 3-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday, the former Highbury hero spoke about the players that could be back in these coming weeks, including Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
The quicker these players return, the better it is for the club and their quest to win the Premier League title again.
And if Jurrien Timber is one of them, then the roof will blow off, but Ian Wright isn’t sure.
Jurrien Timber’s injury
“There is Jesus (to come back from injury),” said Wright. “Thomas Partey maybe.
“I don’t think Timber is going to be back in time. Tomiyasu. You look at what we have got and I mention those players, then we are probably where we are now.”
Jurrien Timber’s absence
Albeit they were early signs, the £38 million signing’s ability to play across the backline, especially as an inverted fullback, was going to be huge for Mikel Arteta.
Before he entered the building, the Arsenal fans knew that and then he started to show those signs when he was in pre-season.
As of this moment, Arsenal are two points behind leaders Liverpool in the table and it could be argued that they would have faired better with Timber in the XI, much better!
But it then needs to be noted that Mohamed Salah is injured for Liverpool and Kevin de Bruyne has missed half a season for Manchester City.
So, every team at the top can complain about injuries affecting them, it’s just about those sides who react best to it all.
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