Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber has lifted the lid on the club’s summer transfer window plans.
The Netherlands international joined the Gunners from Ajax two years ago but suffered a nightmare start to his Arsenal career when he sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury on his Premier League debut.
Timber battled back to full fitness in time to feature on the last day of the 2023/24 campaign and after making a full recovery he established himself as a first team regular last term.
With Ben White suffering a long-term knee injury last term, Timber was pushed to the limit by Mikel Arteta who was also deprived of Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Arsenal’s injury woes were far from limited to their defenders, however, with their forward line decimated by the serious setbacks which saw Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus spend significant time on the sidelines.
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So dire was the situation after Havertz’s hamstring tear that Mikel Merino was forced to play as a makeshift centre forward from February onwards.
With last season’s learnings on board, Arsenal are expected to significantly strengthen their squad during the transfer window to help ease the burden on the likes of Timber.
The Dutch defender told the podcast Matchday: ‘It will definitely be a busy one for Arsenal. I think we will get a lot of players, because we had so many injuries last season.
‘At one point we almost had no players left. So for the depth of the players they definitely want to get players.’
Arsenal are set to begin their summer spending spree by confirming the signing of Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad.
The Spain international midfielder is understood to have arrived in London this week to meet club officials before putting pen to paper on a new long-term contract.
A new winger and a centre forward are also priorities for Arteta who could yet make another signing in midfield with Thomas Partey likely to leave as a free agent.
