According to several sources, Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber has an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
The Gunners have yet to confirm the report, merely confirming that the Dutchman will have “further” testing to determine the degree of the knee ailment, but it appears that he will be sidelined for several months.
In Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend, Timber fell awkwardly five minutes after halftime. It’s a major blow for the player, who had only recently joined from Ajax during the summer transfer window.
Gabriel Jesus has been out since the beginning of the month due to minor surgery on his own knee problem. However, the Brazilian international is only expected to be out for a few weeks.
The forward is likely to return to action before the international break, though it remains to be seen whether he will be fit to start in any of the club’s three upcoming games, given that he hasn’t played since a 5-3 friendly victory over Barcelona on July 27th.
Despite being photographed back in training last week, Oleksandr Zinchenko was not included in the team for the encounter against Forest. The Ukrainian international has been rehabilitating from a muscle ailment, but he should be fit to face Crystal Palace next week.
Mohamed Elneny remains out of contention for first-team participation. The Egyptian international has been sidelined since January with a knee injury, and his recovery is taking time.
Folarin Balogun (foot) and Albert Sambi Lokonga (muscular) both had fitness concerns in pre-season but were expected to return. With both players’ futures in doubt, it’s possible that they were simply left out of the matchday squad.