Jurrien Timber Close To Agreeing Arsenal Move After No Interest From Man United
The transfer window is now in full swing with teams across the Premier League rebuilding their squads for next season.
Manchester United are close to opening their summer cheque book with the signing of Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount but additional targets remain unclear.
One player who will not be joining the ranks at Old Trafford this season is Ajax centre-back Jurriën Timber.
As reported by Dutch media, Timber is on the verge of joining United’s rivals Arsenal in a deal worth an initial €42millon with the potential to rise to €47million.
Only the formalities of the medical stands between the transfer which looks like further good business from Mikel Arteta’s side.
“Only the medical examination stands in the way of the announcement of the dream transfer from Jurriën Timber (22) to Arsenal,” reports Mike Verweij.
The London club are certainly showing ambition in the market, with Timber following Kai Havertz and Declan Rice through the door at the Emirates for a combined cost of over £200million.
United had shown strong interest in securing the signature of Timber last summer but the deal failed to materialize and United opted for Lisandro Martinez instead.
However, with Timber now on his way to the Premier League it was curious to see United not in for a player that Ten Hag knows so well.
Timber can play at both centre-half and right-back and would have provided good cover for Raphael Varane who, despite his obvious class, struggles to get through a season without periods on the sideline.
Additionally, with Ten Hag not particularly sold on either Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Diogo Dalot at right-back, Timber would have got plenty of game time.
The 22-year-old has emerged as a fine defender during his time at Ajax, with Ten Hag nurturing the player through the ranks at the club.
Given the pair’s strong relationship and United’s registered interest, it looked like Timber’s next logical step would to be to reunited with his former coach at Old Trafford, sentiments echoed by former Dutch defender Jaap Stam.
However, it was not meant to be and United will have to find reinforcements from elsewhere in the market as rivals continuing to bolster their squads with pre-season just around the corner.
