Following the news that Jurrien Timber is set to miss a significant period of the season with an ACL injury, Mikel Arteta sympathises with our new recruit who had been so excited to play for us in the Premier League.
The Dutch defender was forced off in the second half of the win against Nottingham Forest on Saturday with what looked to be a bad injury, and unfortunately scans this week confirmed everyone’s worst fears.
Jurrien will now undergo surgery and rehabilitation to get him back out onto the field again, but Mikel feels it will sadly be a long time until we see him back in red and white.
Divulging his emotions, the boss said: “It’s a huge blow, especially for him having just joined the club to have the injury that he has is a huge disappointment for him. Obviously for the team, it’s a big blow because we recruited him with clear intentions and what he was bringing to the team was evident, and he’s not going to be in this season for us. We have to adapt, these things happen unfortunately, and we have to move on.
“Jurrien been very good, to be honest, he’s a special character, he knows, and I think he’s started to realise the extent of the injury and the amount of time that he’s going to be out, but he’s in a good place. We are all willing to him help and we are all very close to him, but it’s going to be a long journey.”
Having seen the summer acquisition from Ajax sidelined, the boss was asked in his pre-match press conference ahead of our meeting with Crystal Palace whether he would be dipping back into the transfer market to try and find a solution to the problem, but Mikel feels he has enough players at his disposal ready to step up.
On potential transfers, he said: “I am more thinking about the resources that we have within the team to keep doing what we want to do. It’s true that [Jurrien] was giving us very different things in terms of what we could do on both sides, but again, these things happen, and we have to be prepared for that.
“It’s an opportunity for everybody. We’re going to need everybody, and everybody is going to be important. The numbers that we have in the squad, especially in those positions are more limited now, so everybody has to be ready.”
Read everything else the boss said in his pre-match press conference, including the increased competition for places following David Raya's arrival, team news and much more.
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