Jurrien Timber and Gabriel Jesus might finally now see their efforts rewarded, having helped one Arsenal teammate throughout his nightmare season at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have enjoyed a largely successful campaign as a whole. But while Arsenal may taste success as a squad in the Premier League, the term has still yielded a few problems for some players. Timber knows that better than most having not yet featured since last August.
Timber has spent the past eight months recovering from his ACL injury at London Colney. He sustained the blow a mere 50 minutes into the 22-year-old’s Premier League debut at home to Nottingham Forest last August. Jesus has endured his own injury woes at Arsenal, as well.
Jurrien Timber and Gabriel Jesus have helped Thomas Partey through his injury woes
Jesus has missed 13 of Arsenal’s 49 games across all competitions after two aggravations of the knee injury he initially sustained at the 2022 World Cup, as well as a hamstring injury. He has also only started 21 matches this season and has scored eight goals plus seven assists.
But Jesus and Timber have also used their spells out of action to help Thomas Partey during the Arsenal star’s injury nightmare. That is according to football.london, which reports that the trio, along with Takehiro Tomiyasu, all banded together to keep each other’s spirits high.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Arsenal ace Jurrien Timber from his height to four brothers
Timber, Tomiyasu, Partey and Jesus have sent each other regular messages of support. The group have also reiterated that they were on the right track after dealing with an ACL injury, calf, groin plus thigh and knee plus hamstring injuries respectively throughout the campaign.
Arsenal could now reap the rewards as Thomas Partey’s role grows again
Partey, who Yaya Toure calls ‘unbelievable’, suffered his first injury against Fulham in August. Mikel Arteta started the midfielder in each of Arsenal’s first three Premier League fixtures as a right-back. But Partey would only play 15 minutes in October before returning this March.
Arsenal lost Partey soon after his return after sustaining a thigh injury in training before their Champions League group stage trip to Sevilla. The Gunners had hoped to see Partey kick on from that match, having represented Ghana before sitting out Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea.
READ MORE: Arsenal’s 25 most expensive transfers and record signings of all time
Instead, Partey has endured a nightmare of a season after suffering frequent setbacks in his recovery from the thigh injury. Arsenal eventually had to send the 30-year-old for surgery in November and another setback at the turn of the year stopped him from heading to AFCON.
Arteta finally welcomed Partey back when Arsenal won 6-0 at Sheffield United in March. The 45-cap ace also made his first start since August when the Gunners beat Luton Town 2-0. Timber, Jesus and Tomiyasu are also seeing their help pay off as Partey grows his role again.
Partey has started Arsenal’s last two Premier League fixtures against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. He even played the full 90 minutes at Spurs for the first time since he started away to Crystal Palace in August. Now, Arsenal could reap the rewards in their title run-in, as well.