'I felt like a baby' - £38m Arsenal signing Jurrien Timber opens up on injury hell after rupturing ACL on Premier League debut and reveals two Gunners team-mates who were key in recovery

The Netherlands international full-back, who joined the Gunners for £38 million ($48m) during the summer transfer window, lasted just 50 minutes of an opening weekend win over Nottingham Forest before being forced onto the treatment table and under the surgeon’s knife. A long road to recovery has been taken in since then, with ACL damage initially leaving Timber in need of child-like assistance from those around him.

The 22-year-old defender has told football.london of his injury nightmare at Emirates Stadium: “The beginning was obviously hard. The first few days are painful. My girlfriend helped me a lot. I felt like a baby. The support of my team-mates and the coaches was immense from the moment I heard the news. I remember [Oleksandr] Zinchenko and Mo [Elneny] were at the training ground, everyone was off [that day] and the doctor left me alone for a bit, and they came into my room. They were just talking to me and encouraging me, saying so many positive things. A lot of guys were texting me, because everyone was off so no one was at the club, but they heard what happened and were texting me. They asked if I was okay and the support was immense.”

The one positive about suffering an injury so early in the season is that Timber may recover in time to figure again in the 2023-24 campaign. He is slowly working his way towards full fitness, with the Dutch star adding on that process: “I feel like it’s going pretty quick. I’m making good progress and also the knee is reacting very well so I’m happy with the way things are going. Let’s just see how things are going and how long it will be still.”

Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal will not be rushing Timber into action, with the plan being to get him back out onto the grass over the coming weeks and closely monitor his performances in training before a decision is taken on any potential return date.