Jurrien Timber suffers fresh injury in setback for Arsenal ahead of Bayer Leverkusen clash

Arsenal star Jurrien Timber has suffered an injury setback ahead of his side's pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen, according to a new report.

The Netherlands international had made his competitive return in pre-season after suffering a serious knee injury in Arsenal's first game of the 2023/24 campaign.

The injury caused Timber to miss the rest of the season, although he did feature for Arsenal's U21 side in April and May.

The defender featured in two of Arsenal's opening three pre-season friendlies, but missed the fixture against Liverpool last week.

Now, The Times reporter Gary Jacob has confirmed that Timber is suffering from a 'load-bearing' injury, although the belief is that is not related to his previous knee injury.

Jacob claims that he will likely be a doubt for this weekend's friendly against Lyon, with Arsenal first taking on Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday evening.

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The Gunners' first Premier League fixture is next weekend against Wolves, and it remains to be seen whether Timber has a race against time to be fit to play.

Speaking in an interview with Arsenal's official website in February, Timber opened up about his long recovery from his knee injury and how it has made him 'stronger' ahead of the new season.

"Of course, at some points it's been difficult," he said. "Because you're not playing, and that's the thing you love to do.

"I use that as motivation during my recovery. I see the boys a lot, at the training ground but also at the games, and that's been good for me too.

"Even though I'm not playing, I can take this moment to become stronger mentally, physically and also to feel at home with this group of boys. It's an opportunity I've taken with both hands.

"I've had some more time to watch the team, see how we play, see how I can fit in when I get on the pitch. So looking at the positives, I think there have been many."