Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has called a knee injury which has kept Takehiro Tomiyasu out of the club’s US tour “unbelievable” but said he is “very excited” about fellow defender Jurrien Timber’s return from long-term anterior cruciate ligament damage.
Versatile Timber joined from Ajax for an initial £34 million in June 2023, only to leave the pitch in agony during Arsenal’s opening game of the season at home to Nottingham Forest.
The 23-year-old returned on the final at Emirates Stadium on the final day of the campaign against Everton, and Arteta has described the Netherlands prospect as “so willing” and “in a really good place” ahead of the new season.
View this post on Instagram
📰 Table Of Contents
Timber injury return
“He is a leader,” Arteta said of Timber. “He loves to be on show and a big presence in everything that we do. He is very vocal and extremely gifted technically. He is a great addition to the team.
“It is not easy to come to a big club, start to set expectations with his performances and then, on day one in the Premier League, you are out for the season.
“But mentally, he is a really tough boy. He has a great environment around him and hopefully that will make him a better player.
“We are going to have to manage him now in the next few weeks, especially because the load he has been able to do in the last few months, compared to the next two weeks, is very different. But we are very excited.”
View this post on Instagram
Arsenal transfer news: ‘Working hard’
Arteta lavished praise on the attitude of his players and the intensity of their training since their arrival in the US, where they will play in California against Bournemouth on Thursday (3.30am BST) and Manchester United three days later (1am).
The Gunners also face Liverpool in Philadelphia on August 1 (12.30am) before returning to England for home friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen on August 7 (6pm) and Lyon four days later (2pm).
Full-back Tomiyasu is the most notable absentee. “He had an incident in training this week and we don’t know yet the extent of that, but as a precaution we kept him [in England],” said Arteta. “It is unbelievable because the kid works so hard. We’ll see what happens.
The Spaniard hopes to have made more signings by the time the transfer window shuts at 11pm on August 30.
“We know there are certain positions that we want to improve and give the squad better resources, especially in terms of numbers, where we are very short,” said Arteta, adding that technical director Edu and Arsenal’s board are “working hard” on potential targets.
“We will try our best but the main thing is to focus on falling in love with the players we have and make them better. There’s still a [long way] to go in the window.”
