Jurrien Timber breaks silence after scoring in first Arsenal appearance in eight months

Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber admitted that he “can’t wait” to return to the Gunners’ first team after scoring on his long-awaited comeback from injury. The Dutchman has been out of action for eight months after suffering damage to his anterior cruciate ligament on his Premier League debut.

After spending 254 days out through injury, Timber made his first appearance for Arsenal Under-21s on Monday and quickly reminded fans why £38.5million was spent in the summer to prise him away from Ajax.

Marauding into the box from left-back, Timber jinked back inside and produced a stunning curled effort from the edge of the area to leave Blackburn speechless. That took him just eight minutes and he is now bidding to make the next step on his road to recovery by featuring for Mikel Arteta’s senior team.

When asked whether he was excited about a first-team return after the match, Timber said: “Oh yeah, I can’t wait. The boys have been texting me already, so it’s going to be fun. It’s been eight months, you know. To be honest, I still don’t really know how to feel, but just being out there feels amazing.

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“Even now, it feels strange for me as well. It’s amazing, it’s been eight months. I feel happy, feel blessed to be out there and it was nice scoring a goal as well. I think we’re doing really well.

"The last couple of weeks have been tough, obviously out of the Champions League, but we’re still in the mix, we’re still there. I’m glad that I can be a part of it and let’s see what the last couple of weeks can bring. I hope something beautiful.”

Arteta has rotated between Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back throughout the season, but Timber could take command of that role next season and at the very least, returning to full fitness boosts the boss’ options thanks to his versatility across the backline.