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News broke out of nowhere late Monday night that Arsenal were reported to be working on a £30 million deal for Ajax defender Jurrien Timber.
As per The Athletic's David Ornstein, Ajax want a figure closer to a fee of £50 million. However, there is optimism from the Gunners and manager Mikel Arteta that a compromise will eventually be reached for the 22-year-old.
Part of that is because personal terms are already thought to be reached with Timber.
But why do Arsenal want Timber in the first place, especially when all their recent transfer rumors are involving midfielders and forwards such as Declan Rice and Kai Havertz?
In terms of playing style, Timber is a center back who can play right back as well and is very comfortable on the ball. Having played on the right-hand side of Holland's back three at the recent World Cup, Timber is not only composed with the ball, but has an impressive passing range and dribbling ability.
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However, according to the Daily Telegraph's Sam Dean, a key part of Arsenal's squad building for the 2023/24 season was looking for a versatile right back who could tuck into midfield much like Oleksandr Zinchenko did as a left back-cum-midfielder last season.
Timber certainly fit the bill and has been at the top of the Gunners' wishlist for weeks now.
With the likes of Cedric Soares and Rob Holding also expected to depart the Emirates Stadium this summer, the potential transfer makes plenty of sense — especially given how the Gunners' title challenge suffered in the business end of last season following injuries to defenders William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Timber made 34 Eredivisie appearances for Ajax this past season, scoring two goals and grabbing two assists along the way.
