Mikel Arteta's decision to sign Jurrien Timber is an extremely smart one as he is sure to add necessary depth and competition to Arsenal's defence. football.london understands that Arsenal could pay up to £38.5m for the Netherlands international with £34.2m paid as the up front fee with a further £4.3million available in add-ons.
Last season, the 23-year-old was deployed at right-back for Ajax, but he would often invert to give the Dutch giants an extra option in midfield in the same way OIeksandr Zinchenko would do so from the left at Emirates Stadium.
Developed from his days at Manchester City, Arteta is a huge fan of his full-backs being tactically versatile and therefore capable of pushing into midfield. Adding options in defence was always seen as a priority for the Gunners and the signing of Timber will give Arteta more flexibility to change formation.
Ben White was a buccaneering right-back in north London throughout the last campaign as he scored two goals and grabbed five assists, however his position in the starting XI is up in the air. Because of Arteta's love for inverting, it could be automatically assumed that Timber would slot straight into the right of the back four with White set for a deputy role.
However, when Arsenal brought White to the club he was signed as a central defender and if Timber does take his spot, he could moved across into the centre alongside either William Saliba or Gabriel Magalhaes. Arsenal's first official pre-season friendly arrives on Thursday as they face Nurnberg and there is hope that Timber will be able to make his debut in that fixture.
For that to happen an announcement would be needed on Wednesday and it has thus far not arrived, although a leak has emerged which shows Timber's official image taken directly from the Arsenal server, according to Twitter user @ars_informer.
No official confirmation coming though likely means White will be at right-back and Arsenal themselves have dropped that exact hint in their training images.
White was spotted in conversation with his right-hand side partner in crime Bukayo Saka and new attacking coach Hussain Isa. The exact topic of their chat is unknown but it is very possible that how Arsenal plan to build attacks from the right in the upcoming friendlies was discussed which certainly hints that White will be remaining at right-back for the time being.
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An alternative option that could see both included has since been suggested which would also see Declan Rice be given a new role. Speaking to talkSPORT, journalist Alex Crook said: “I’m interested to see what happens with Ben White because we know they’re going to bring in Jurrien Timber."
"I think he might move up to a sort of John Stones midfield role, I wouldn’t rule that out. So, he might well be the holding midfielder and that will enable Declan Rice to go further forward.”
