Mikel Arteta will hope to end this weekend with no Arsenal injury absentees following the North London Derby against Tottenham. The likes of Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu have been plagued by issues in this campaign, however all three are back and building match sharpness.
Earlier this month, Tomiyasu suffered a fresh concern during the clash against Bayern Munich which resulted in him missing the following weekend’s game. But he was back in the starting XI to face Chelsea which left Jurrien Timber as the only player remaining in the treatment room.
However, just 24 hours before Tomiyasu’s return, Timber played 45 minutes for the Arsenal academy against Blackburn Rovers. Following his first competitive action in eight months, hope is present Timber could feature in this Sunday’s North London Derby.
With that said, football.london has rounded up everything there is to know about Timber’s injury before his potential senior return.
Injury
Timber damaged his ACL during the Premier League opener against Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium. Such a significant injury usually requires surgery to fix with the estimated return time up to nine months with muscular atrophy taking place around the knee.
The Netherlands international returned to training in late February with the Gunners carefully managing his load before he took part in full contact team sessions at London Colney the following month.
What Arteta has said
“He’s going to play a game with the under-21s and after that we will see better where he is, how he felt,” Arteta said last week. “He looks really good in training but it’s that last step now. We need to have the certainty that he’s ready to go.
On Friday, he said: “Apart from Jurrien it’s going to be very close that we have everybody available.” When pressed about Timber, Arteta added: “We’re going to have to make that decision tomorrow after a training session. It’s very close, I don’t know if this is going to come to soon for him, but he’s very close.”
Potential return date
Arteta certainly sounded optimistic when offering his Timber update and given the 22-year-old’s impressive physical levels shown, minutes against Tottenham could be on the cards. However, with Arsenal still having three games left following the North London Derby, Timber playing again this season looks highly likely.
After the Spurs game, the Gunners are back in action on Sunday, May 4 when they visit Old Trafford to face Manchester United with Timber, if he hasn’t returned already, likely to be involved.
