The list of cruciate ligament injuries around the start of the season in the international top leagues is getting longer. At Real Madrid, regular goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and central defender Eder Militao were recently caught, and Arsenal brought bad news on Wednesday. Jurrien Timber suffered an “anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee” on his Premier League debut against Nottingham Forest (2-1) and is expected to be out for months. The club announced this on its website.
The examination by several specialists produced this result, and the 15-time Dutch national player will also be operated on shortly. Arsenal of course assured Timber of the best possible support that he could be back on the pitch “as soon as possible”.
Exactly when that will be remains to be seen. In any case, the injury throws the plans of Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta upside down. The Gunners also brought in Timber for his defensive flexibility. The English runners-up paid 40 million euros to Ajax Amsterdam in order to free the defender, who can be used in the back four on the inside and on the right. Timber even defended on the left back when he triumphed in the Community Shield over Manchester City (4-1 on penalties) and against Nottingham.
Shortly after the break, Timber got stuck on the lawn at the start of the Premier League – he had already signaled problems with his knee after a tackle in the first section. Takehiro Tomiyasu took over the left back role against Forest. It will be exciting to see how Arteta wants to make up for the failure on Monday (9 p.m., LIVE! at kicker) against Crystal Palace and then permanently in the following months.
