Arsenal boss Arteta questions schedule after Timber injury

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has expressed “big worries” over participant welfare after defender Jurriën Timber joined a listing of great accidents at first of the brand new season.

Timber is dealing with as much as the prospect of lacking the vast majority of the 2023-24 marketing campaign as he prepares to endure surgical procedure on an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his proper knee.

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The 22-year-old was certainly one of a number of gamers to endure setbacks with Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne dominated out for 4 months attributable to a hamstring drawback whereas Aston Villa duo Emiliano Buendía and Tyrone Mings each sustained ACL accidents this month.

Real Madrid pair Thibaut Courtois and Éder Militão are two extra ACL victims and Arteta voiced fears the packed fixture schedule is putting an excessive amount of demand on gamers.

“There is something there,” Arteta stated. “In the past you can say, yes there have been games, there have been tours as well. But with games, tours, the World Cup in [December], plus this, plus that, plus internationals. It is a lot. It is too much for the players.

“It is extremely demanding, while you see the subsequent 36 months of the calendar for these gamers it’s simply higher not to have a look at it as a result of it’s unbelievable what they will be doing.

“We have to look after them but, as a club, when do you look after them? To prioritise other competitions? Then we are the ones that have to look after them — what we really need is to be sitting down, but I think it is too late, at least for the next 36 months it is too late already.

“I do not know who wants to lift a voice right here however there are worries, massive worries on that.”

No timescale has been placed on Timber’s return but sources have played down criticism his injury was exacerbated by the way he was handled in the immediate aftermath.

Timber, a £34 million ($43m) summer signing from Ajax, went down towards the end of the first half of his competitive debut against Nottingham Forest but returned for the second period only to break down minutes later.

Sources have told ESPN that Timber underwent detailed medical checks at half-time and there were no initial signs of the severity of the injury. Furthermore, the player wanted to continue and even after he left the field a second time, sources have told ESPN that Timber was walking around pain-free around two hours later.

It was only following a series of scans in the subsequent days that the full extent of the injury became clear and the decision to operate was made on Wednesday.

“To have the injury he has is a large blow,” Arteta said. “It is for the staff as a result of we recruited him with clear intentions and what he was bringing to the staff was evident and he isn’t going to have the ability to do it this season for us. We should adapt. These issues occur sadly and we have now to maneuver on.”

Arteta hinted Arsenal may go into the market to replace Timber despite already spending more than £240m this summer.

“We did not plan with this injury,” he added. “We should assess what the choices are, what are the perfect gamers that we have now as a result of, as I stated, my problem is to get the perfect from the gamers that we have now.

“I cannot assess anyone who is not here. We are always open and we have to be open as well to react if something happens, not only with an injury but if something happens in the market as well. That’s what we’re doing.

“My focus is on getting the perfect out of my squad and we’re open to the switch window each methods as we nonetheless have issues to do each methods, perhaps.”