Good signing hopefully means we don't have to watch Cedric/Holding play for us again.

I also hope this signing means we can find a suitable role for Tierney at LB rather than asking him to play like Zinchenko.

Good we got this done. He looks like he’s got a bit about him too.

Re Rice, if we’re going on tour to US on Sunday then surely we will have to announce it tomorrow? Don’t think it will be today as they wouldn’t want to overshadow the Timber signing/announcement

Only Arsenal can delay a signing so much that you lose interest in it altogether. We've had this thread created for weeks!

I'm excited to see him play his first game. Our defense and depth is incredible this season.

    naz Apparently Ajax had the video done 2 weeks ago. His brother also had his farewell party 2 weeks ago. Everything completed even medicals last week lol.

      from watching a video of him on youtube, and reading about his clear strengths and weaknesses, he seems more suited to play as a DM than as a CB or a fullback. he is very weak in the air (and is only 6'0) and hes not great whipping in crosses, but he has very good vision and passing range, and hes excellent at winning the ball back and ground tackling/duels. i guess a tucked in fullback where he'll play more centrally could work, but i wonder if he wouldnt be better suited to playing as the deepest midfielder if we sell the player who i wont mention by name to one of the saudi clubs. but then how do you also fit rice, havertz and odegaard into the same lineup?

      That's why quite a few people think he'll play as an inverted fullback for us. I don't think he'll play at CB unless there's a serious injury crisis.

      I think he can also excel in a CB role for us and I'd only worry about him in matches where we are camped in our box defending with our backs to the wall. Even in such a scenario I wouldn't worry if we have both Gabriel and Tomi in our back 4. People forget we spend most matches in the opposition half, not many teams can pin us back.

      I remember watching Ajax vs Dortmund and both he and Martinez dealt with Haaland very well.Timber's height would have been a major issue if he couldn't defend with a lot of space behind his back but that's the sort of thing he excels at.

      He comes across really well in his interviews, very down to earth and understated, it's great to see.

      Think he will fit in with the rest of the team on and off the pitch very nicely.

      Welcome to Arsenal Jurrien 😄

      Welcome. Don't know much about him so hope he's good. Depth in defence cost us last season so this hopefully reduces reliance on Tomiyasu to be available.

      5 days later

      By golly he looked superb yesterday. Straight in to the first eleven you go J

      Yeah agree. He's silky smooth on the ball. Way better than White technically. Great options to have

        Clrnc Timber looks rather well suited to a hybrid role à la Zinny or Stones, you have to assume that's part of the thinking with him.

        I admire White's qualities, but he's never gonna have the control and composure in close quarters that Zinchenko possesses. I have a vibe this will be the season we start to see a lot of tactical variation from Arteta—I don't think the "Xhaka role" is going to be what it was if Havertz is getting in the side either.

          I feel Timber was brought in to replace Zinchenkos dodginess at the back. White is just unfortunate to be affected.

          We'll soon see Timber playing the big matches and Zinny brought in for the weaker teams where we can be more attacking.

            banduan I feel Timber was brought in to replace Zinchenkos dodginess at the back. White is just unfortunate to be affected.

            I wouldn't be surprised to see us line up sometimes with a back four of Gabriel, Saliba, White and Timber. Timber steps into midfield to form a double pivot with Rice and then you've a back three of Gabriel, Saliba and White. White could still occasionally overlap on the right to combine with Saka and create overloads.