Jurrien Timber will be over the moon after seeing news now coming out of the Netherlands

Mikel Arteta will be hoping he can get Jurrien Timber back on the pitch as soon as possible.

The right-back is recovering from an injury which ruled him out of the World Cup, and although he is back on the grass, Arteta confirmed this week he is still “weeks away”.

With the Premier League title defence getting underway next week, we have to assume Timber won’t be involved.

But as he recovers, there has been a new development which could have massive implications on his international career.

According to reports from De Telegraaf, the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has opened formal talks with former Belgium and Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez to succeed Ronald Koeman.

While the prospect of appointing a non-Dutch national manager has stirred debate in the Netherlands, inside the Arsenal dressing room, Timber will be quietly ecstatic.

Netherlands appointing Roberto Martinez would be really good news for Jurrien Timber

Martinez is a coach who has a track record of preferring technically gifted, ball-playing defenders who can operate across multiple positions.

His most notable example of this was probably during his time at Everton, where John Stones became his favourite player to work with.

Where more traditional managers at the time saw a young defender taking unnecessary risks, Martinez saw an elite ball-player capable of stepping out from the back line, stepping into midfield pockets, carrying the ball under pressure, and breaking lines with his passing.

Jurrien Timber, in that sense, is of a similar mould. He is Stones with better defensive instincts and the ability to play anywhere across the backline.

His ability to carry the ball, find teammates under pressure and read the game from deep is exactly what Martinez loves from his defenders.

While some previous managers have preferred Denzel Dumfries to Timber at right-back, that surely won’t be the case if Martinez is hired.

Missing the World Cup was a devastating blow for Timber, but he returns to pre-season at Arsenal hungry to build on last season’s Premier League title win, which he was so crucial to.