Recent Arsenal signing was initially brought in to play a different position

September 17, 2024Ligue 1

Arsenal’s Dutch defender #12 Jurrien Timber (L) and Arsenal’s English midfielder #07 Bukayo Saka (R) celebrate their win on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium in London on August 17, 2024. Arsenal won the game 2-0. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber was reportedly signed to be a right-back first and foremost, even though he now seems to have established himself more and more as Mikel Arteta’s first choice left-back.

The versatile Dutchman can play to a high standard on both sides, while he’s also had spells playing as a centre-back, so it’s not surprising to see that he’s become a really useful player for the Gunners since coming back from a lengthy injury that kept him out for almost the entire 2023/24 campaign.

According to the Evening Standard, Timber was initially seen as a right-back for Arsenal, with the former Ajax man brought in to compete with and cover for Ben White on that side of the back four.

Now, however, it seems clear that White is pretty much undroppable in this Arsenal side, whereas Oleksandr Zinchenko has fallen down the pecking order slightly, having suffered a bit of a dip in form last season, which saw Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu occasionally fill in for him.

Timber certainly looks a more solid option on the left than Zinchenko, even if the Ukraine international also has his qualities that he brings to the team.

Jurrien Timber in action for Arsenal (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)