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Arsenal have completed the signing of Jurrien Timber but how does he fit into the Gunners' defence along with William Saliba and the rest of last season’s main cast?
Arsenal’s blistering start to the 2023 summer transfer window continues with another big-money addition to the squad following the arrival of Kai Havertz and Declan Rice so far.
This time it is a defensive reinforcement in the form of Jurrien Timber, the Dutch central defender who has up till now been a key part of the Ajax rearguard.
Arsenal reportedly paid Ajax €40 million plus another €5 million in add-ons to get their man who is set to be presented officially.
This creates the need for a full understanding of Jurrien Timber and how the player would fit into Arsenal’s already solid defence.
Who is Arsenal’s new signing Jurrien Timber?
Timber broke into the Ajax first team in the 2020/21 season having already debuted the previous season, playing just one game.
He has since played 121 games for Dutch giants primarily as a right-sided centre-back and a lot of times as a right fullback.
Of course, his utilitarian nature across the backline and tactical fluidity would have been the main sources of attraction for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
His €45 million valuation is also a big reason Arsenal were attracted to Timber, it is not every day a highly-rated 22-year-old central defender goes for that amount.
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Some might remember him as the guy who turned down a move to Manchester United this time last year, resisting the allure of working with former manager Erik Ten Hag.
And now he will be working with Arteta, slotting into Arsenal’s already solid defence but how exactly? Considering the main cast from last season are still very much around.
How does Jurrien Timber fit into Arsenal’s defence?
As earlier stated, defence was not a problem for the Gunners last season, only Newcastle and champions Manchester City with 33, conceded fewer than Arsenal’s 43 in 38 games last campaign.
The main source of concern defensively for Arsenal was a lack of depth which was typified by how the season derailed following William Saliba’s injury.
Speaking of Saliba, the 22-year-old central defender is back fit again and recently signed a new four-year extension.
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He along with 25-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes were the formidable central defensive pair that sometimes looked unbeatable last season.
It is unlikely that Arteta changes anything when everyone is fit and Timber is quite frankly too good and expensive to be a depth signing.
Plus Arsenal already have their central defensive depth signing in the person of Jakub Kiwior who joined in January from Spezia for €25 million.
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And in the right-back position, Arsenal already have two players with similar profiles to Timber, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, two centre-backs who have proven proficient in the right fullback role.
So, if Timber is to play in Arsenal’s defensive setup from last season, he would most likely do so at Saliba’s expense as the right centre-back or ahead of both White and Tomiyasu as a right-back.
But as earlier stated, it is unlikely that Arsenal signed a player of his calibre to come sit on the bench and play a rotational role at best which implies that Arteta may just be thinking of switching up the shape from last season.
How Timber and Saliba can coexist in the Arsenal defence
The only way to accommodate Jurrien Timber in a starting role without any casualties from the defence that kept 14 clean sheets in the Premier League is to change the shape entirely.
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A simple three-at-the-back formation would accomplish this task with Gabriel as a left centre-back, Saliba playing centrally and Timber operating on the right while Zinchenko and White push further up the pitch as wing-backs.
For that to work, a body would have to drop from midfield or attack and lucky for the Gunners, Granit Xhaka already left for Bayer Leverkusen and Thomas Partey is also strongly linked with a move away.
Timber’s style is much more suited to this proposition, according to FBRef, the Dutchman attempted 81.65 passes with a 91.6% completion rate while also playing 8.62 progresses passes and averaging 2.38 progressive carries per 90, putting him in the top 1% among centre-backs in Europe last season for each of those stats.
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Playing alongside both Saliba and Gabriel would give him the freedom to do what he does best as an extremely proficient ball-playing defender, useful in creating offensive overloads.
However Arteta plans to deploy Timber, it is obvious that his signing is a conundrum, albeit one of those positive problems managers always pray for.
The signing though is indicative of Arsenal’s new level as proper title contenders, now having proper starting calibre players in rotational roles.
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