Arsenal summer signing Jurrien Timber was dealt a huge blow as he picked up a long-term injury on his Premier League debut in August.
The defender joined from Ajax for around £34m, and instantly impressed as he shone in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City.
Timber ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in Arsenal’s opening-day victory over Nottingham Forest, and has been absent since. Whilst he has returned to training in recent weeks, he is still some way off full fitness.
Mikel Arteta does not want to take any risks over Timber, and the last thing he needs is another injury setback as he makes his recovery.
Arteta has now outlined the steps Timber needs to take before he can even return to the matchday squad with his teammates.
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Mikel Arteta claims Jurrien Timber still needs time before Arsenal return
Speaking in a press conference, Arteta explained that Timber needs to feature for the under-23s to gain match sharpness, before he can be considered for first-team action.
“He’s still got a few steps to make. He needs to play [one] game at least with the Under 21s. He’s gonna have an in-house game soon, as well,” he stated.
“He’s done everything in training. Now, he’s getting that much fitness and having people around is like competing in a football match, which is different to training.”
Arsenal cannot expect Jurrien Timber to perform this season
Arsenal have seven games remaining in the Premier League, and if they beat Bayern Munich, they will have between two and three Champions League games for the rest of the season.
There is simply no time for Timber to come in to start any of these games to regain fitness, once he has fully recovered enough to return to the pitch.
Arsenal have Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior available at left-back, and there is no need to rush Timber back into action.
The best course of action would be to let Timber fully recover and start playing properly in pre-season, rather than risk further injury or mistakes in the title run-in or Champions League knockouts.
Timber can be a key player for Arsenal next season if he does return to his best level, but there should be no expectation that we will see him play significant minutes in this campaign.