Mikel Arteta explains why Arsenal’s newest ‘leader’ is so important

Timber is now finally an Arsenal regular / Julian Finney/GettyImages

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on 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 almost the entirety 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 also strengthened their defence this summer with the signing of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna, and he too has been afforded a run of starts of late.

Ahead of their UEFA Champions League clash at home to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, Arteta explained what the duo bring to his Arsenal team.

Arteta spoke highly of Timber and Calafiori / Visionhaus/GettyImages

He said: “We missed Jurrien 11 months and Riccy wasn’t here. They are two players that have the football brain, the intelligence, the courage, the quality and adaptability to occupy different spaces attacking and defending. That gives the team a different dynamic and makes us unpredictable for the opponent to defend. And they’re both huge personalities which I love.

“[The full-backs] have to have one in common – they have to love defending first. The quality that we have is great. Playing full-backs that are inverting with their natural foot for the flow and the units it’s really important.”

When asked specifically on what Timber is like as a character, Arteta replied: “A leader. A guy that is constantly thinking how can I help others and bringing great quality to everything that he does. Even in the little time that he’s been with us and the amount of time he’s spent on the pitch, for everyone to speak so highly of him in the way that they do, that tells you everything about the personality that we have in the team.

“He comes from Ajax, it was a big move, different country. He comes here with expectations, starts really well and then gets injured in the first game. Then what? You have to look ahead, eight, nine, 10, 12 months and you can feel very lonely and isolated from the team. That can be very disappointing and very difficult to handle personally and emotionally.

“He did the exact opposite. He started to build unbelievable relationships with the physios and his teammates, he started to gather all the information he could about how we were playing and that really helped to understand him as a person and how we were playing in a much better way and to be prepared when he was back