‘Not to say it is impossible’ – Arsenal boss Arteta reveals Timber injury update ahead of CL final | OneFootball

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed a significant update on Jurrien Timber’s recovery from injury ahead of the Champions League final.

Timber has been one of Arsenal‘s star performers this season, so the Premier League giants have sorely missed him while he has been out of action with a groin injury.

Initially, Timber was not expected to be unavailable for too long, but has yet to play since picking up the injury in March.

A recent update from Arteta revealed that the right-back could be out for the remainder of this season, and this issue has been made worse by Ben White also being ruled out until the summer.

But fresh off winning the Premier League title, Arteta has revealed there is still hope of Timber playing for Arsenal in next weekend’s Champions League final.

“Mikel [Merino] is going to start training with the group tomorrow,” Arteta told a press conference on Thursday.

“Jurrien, let’s hope he can do the same in the next few days. But he’s still a little further behind Mikel at that moment.”

“It certainly makes it more difficult…”

Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs (which looks to boost body performance), has explained why the length of Timber’s layoff could make his return “more difficult”.

“If the player is not on the field and training at this point after two months out, think of the match sharpness they have lost,” Smith told Metro.

“Not to say it is impossible, it is not like he has been sat at home, I am sure they are doing a lot of work with him.

“Arsenal are short of numbers with Ben White out so it could maybe change their posture towards that and how they think about utilising Timber in these final weeks.

“But it certainly makes it more difficult. The importance of the games coming up too, everything matters.”

On winning the title, Arteta revealed how he found out that the Gunners had gotten over the line.

“It’s incredible to hear those words, especially when you consider the journey they’ve been on, the manner that we’ve done it, and how many people have been involved and waiting so long to complete that goal,” Arteta said on winning the Premier League title.

When asked how he experienced Tuesday night, Arteta added: “You don’t realise it. It’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

“I was supposed to be here at Colney watching the game with the boys but I couldn’t. I had to leave, I couldn’t bring the energy that I wanted. I think it was the moment to watch it together themselves. I went home, I went out to the garden, did a barbecue and didn’t watch any of it.

“I heard some noises from the living room and suddenly the magic happened. It was beautiful to see the joy on my family’s faces.”