William Saliba fires Jurrien Timber clear Arsenal message with Premier League vow after Everton

From the Arsenal player with the most Premier League minutes played this season to the senior option with the fewest of anyone to start a game. While William Saliba completed the remarkable achievement of playing every minute across the 38 matches, Jurrien Timber bookended his first campaign.

The 22-year-old went nine months between his only two competitive appearances for the club following a knee injury that all-but-wiped out his debut season. After being taken off in the second half at the Emirates Stadium in mid-August during a nervy 2-1 win that kickstarted a title fight, Timber returned to the fold late on in a narrow one-goal victory that still wasn't good enough to deliver the goods.

In between those games Arsenal won 26 times from 36 games, drawing five, as they ran Manchester City down to the wire. Even without their defensive recruit signed from Ajax last summer, Mikel Arteta's men put up a strong fight.

Now the attention has turned quickly towards how they can prepare to go one step further next season. For Timber, the hope is that he will be able to fully contribute toward their endeavours.

"Felt great to play in front of the fans again after 9 months," he wrote on Instagram after the final day win against Everton. "Compliments to the team for the great performance, it was a joy watching you throughout the season [red and white heart circle emojis] Till next year gooners".

Timber came on in place of Ben White having been working toward a return for several months since the winter break. He had spent the previous few weeks on the verge of selection following initial outings for the Under-21 side.

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With Bukayo Saka injured for the Premier League finale in North London, Timber was granted a spot in the matchday squad and he would go on to replace White as Arsenal chased a victory that was needed to give any chance of winning the title. City leading West Ham 3-1 at the time made it unlikely, but Timber's introduction did coincide with Kai Havertz's late winner.

Slotting into the side next to Saliba, Timber has now been sent a promising message from his teammate. "Next season is yours [red heart emoji]" the Frenchman responded to Timber's post.

Arsenal and Arteta will certainly hope so. Timber will now have all summer to prepare for the new push after being left out of Netherlands' Euro 2024 squad.