Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber ‘gutted’ after requiring knee surgery

Jurrien Timber admits he is “gutted” that impending knee surgery will rule him out for a lengthy period of time after he suffered a serious injury on his Premier League debut for Arsenal.

The Netherlands international moved to the Emirates Stadium from Ajax this summer but was forced off during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

He emerged for the second half but lasted just five minutes before going down off the ball and being replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu and Arsenal confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that Timber is now set to go under the knife.

“Further to detailed assessments with consultant specialists since Saturday, we can confirm that Jurrien has sustained an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee,” a statement read.

We’re all with you, Jurrien

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 16, 2023

“Jurrien will undergo surgery in the coming days and will be out of action for a period of time.

“The support and expertise from our medical team and everyone at the club will now be focussed on Jurrien’s rehabilitation programme, to ensure he recovers well and is back playing as soon as possible.”

With recovery times from such injuries differing, Arsenal are unwilling to put a timeframe on a return to action for Timber, who took to Instagram to thank fans for a warm welcome.

“Gutted to share my injury is more serious than expected, especially after the warm welcome I’ve received,” he wrote.

“I wanted to repay you on the pitch, which will not be possible for the forthcoming period. I’m blessed with a lot of great people around me. Together we will do anything to get back as soon and strong as possible.

“For now I’ll be supporting our team from the stands of course. Thanks for making me feel at home in such a short period of time, see you at The Carpet.”

Timber was a £38.5million signing for the Gunners and played in the Community Shield penalty shoot-out win over Manchester City before suffering the setback against Forest.

Despite losing Timber, Arsenal are still expected to allow Nuno Tavares to leave the club in the coming days, with Forest a potential destination for the former Portugal Under-21s full-back.

While signed primarily to play at right-back, Timber had started life at Arsenal on the left side of defence, filling in as Oleksandr Zinchenko recovered from a calf problem.