Arsenal have been handed a boost in their pursuit of the Premier League title with defender Jurrien Timber set to make his return from long-term injury in tomorrow’s game with Bournemouth.
The Gunners could extend their advantage at the top of the table to four points over Manchester City with a win in the lunchtime kick-off. That will place the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s men, who will then have two games in hand, when they host Wolves at 1730.
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A clash with a Bournemouth side that have won their last two games will not be a pushover and boss Mikel Arteta was pleased to reveal today his squad have a clean bill of health, including Timber who has not played since the opening day win over Nottingham Forest.
Having made a full recovery from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, the Netherlands international is set to be in the squad for the visit of Andoni Iraola’s men.
Arteta said: “Jurrien is 100 per cent back and available.
“We are not going to know [if Timber is ready] until we throw him in. In eight months of football, he’s only played 150 minutes with the Under-21s. It’s a solution we can only do by throwing him on the pitch.”
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Timber is more likely to make an impact next season with Arteta hoping he will be a team-mate of Jorginho. The Italy midfielder is out of contract at the end of June but Arteta is eager for the 32-year-old to stay.
“I would love to keep him, he knows that and the club is really supportive of that. He makes us better and we are interested,” he said.
Arteta also heaped praise on Jorginho’s fellow midfielder Declan Rice, who this morning was named runner-up to Phil Foden as Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year.
He said: “It’s been great, he’s had such an impact since day one. It’s a great group, I think they’ve been really, really supportive. After eight or nine days in pre-season, he said he’d felt like he’d been here for three years.”
Arteta also said any decision on whether to make goalkeeper David Raya’s move from Brentford permanent would be made in the summer while also dismissing reports that Gabriel Jesus would be off-loaded at the end of the season.
