Arteta: Timber still weeks away, Saliba in “rest mode”

Mikel Arteta has all but confirmed Jurrien Timber will miss the start of the new Premier League season as he continues his recovery from a long-standing groin problem, while William Saliba remains “in rest mode” as Arsenal manage the back injury that curtailed his World Cup.

Timber underwent surgery in June to address an issue that first surfaced in mid-March and will play no part in Arsenal’s remaining pre-season fixtures against Como and Manchester City. As for Saliba, whose back problem the club acknowledged a couple of weeks ago, Arteta admitted it is still too early to put any sort of timeline on his return.

“Jurrien is progressing really well,” reported the Spaniard after Sunday’s 3-2 Emirates Cup defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

“He’s on the pitch, he’s doing quite a lot right now, but it’s still weeks away. I cannot tell you how much.

“William is in rest mode at the moment for two weeks. He had to do almost nothing, don’t aggravate the injury. It’s going to take some time to heal. We know that. And as soon as we have more news, we can inform you.”

Asked how Arsenal will cope without a cornerstone of last season’s defence, Arteta acknowledged the size of the challenge.

“We have experienced that in the past, unfortunately. When he [Saliba] has been available, his stats are incredible.

“We know that we have lost an incredible player. Same with Jurrien.”

Given the importance of both defenders, it’s no surprise that Arsenal continue to be linked with reinforcements. Sporting Lisbon’s Ivan Fresneda and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa have both been mentioned in recent weeks, although Arteta was never likely to be drawn on individual names.

He did, however, make it clear that Arsenal’s business is not necessarily finished.

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” he replied when asked whether the club were looking to strengthen further.

“It has to be the right player in the market to make us much better. We are very much looking forward to that.”

For now, attention turns to integrating Bruno Guimaraes into the squad, while also welcoming back the seven Arsenal players whose World Cup campaigns stretched to the final weekend.

“Some of them were back today, already watching the game,” confirmed Arteta.

“Some of them, David [Raya] and Bukayo [Saka], were back yesterday, a bit earlier than expected, which is great to see. I think it’s a really good sign and tomorrow [Monday] everybody will be available to start the training programme.

“We have very different groups within the same time that they are coming back. Why? Because some of them have done more, some of them have done less, some of them didn’t almost participate in the World Cup in terms of minutes. So they are all very different stages.

“I want to see as well the way they have looked after themselves, what they said they did and actually what they did and how they look. But I’m sure that will be all positive surprises.”

With some players only just returning from their summer break while others are building fitness after injury, Arsenal will inevitably begin the campaign with individuals at different stages of their preparation. Arteta, however, insists that has all been factored into the club’s planning.

“Yes, that’s something that we’ve done in the past. Obviously, we have some long-term injuries with people coming back, but today [Sunday] we have done that with certain players.

“Martin [Odegaard] played 30 minutes, we made an incredible amount of changes against [Real] Betis [on Tuesday]. It was the same 45 minutes. You wouldn’t recognise, obviously, the team that played last season.

“So this is part of the preparation and a really specific preparation that, if we don’t see the result right now, makes sure that we see it in a week when we start to compete for the major trophies.”

If pre-season has felt a little like organised chaos so far, with academy youngsters plugging the gaps left by Arsenal’s World Cup stars, that phase is now over.

The return of the club’s big hitters, together with Bruno Guimaraes’ arrival, means Arteta can finally start preparing the team he actually expects to field when the real business begins. There isn’t much time to mould everyone into a cohesive unit before Coventry at home, but after a disjointed few weeks, Arsenal’s real pre-season starts now.

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