Arsenal or Manchester United? For Timber, the Gunners are clearly the better choice!

Manchester United had already made a bid for Jurrien Timber last year, but Ajax management sold a number of players and needed to keep a balance in the team. So the talented stopper stayed for one more season. This time, however, it seems that the Dutch club will not keep him, as Arsenal are the closest to acquiring him.

Timber confirmed last season that the interest in him was not something unjustified last summer. He ended up playing 47 games in an Ajax jersey and a number of others for the Dutch national team, and apart from the first game at the World Cup in Qatar, he was on the pitch constantly until the penalty shootout with Argentina.

the 22-year-old stopper is very popular with Erik ten Hag, who coached him back in Amsterdam. However, the Dutch coach preferred the arrival of Lisandro Martínez, who after years of hardship finally created a stopper duo with Raphael Varane that matched the club’s former standards.

This then may be the main reason why Timber chose Arsenal over Manchester United, where he has two of his former teammates. Getting into the starting line-up despite this pair could be somewhat tricky.

However, the Utrecht native is also capable of playing on the edge of defence, which is also where ten Hag used him a few times in his last season at the helm of Ajax. And it is the edges of the defence that are very likely to be reinforced this summer.

But we are still primarily talking about a stopper, so a move to the Emirates Stadium makes much more sense for Timber, as he should bring competition to the current players working for the Gunners, as well as the aforementioned variability in usage.

However, Ajax rejected the London outfit’s first offer, which according to Fabrizio Romano was around £30 million. The Dutch club received a second improved offer, however, valuing the player himself at around €45 million.

The player himself should then agree to the terms offered by Arsenal, as he is expected to sign a contract until 2028. However, it will all depend on whether the Gunners are willing to pay the required amount.

Source: Fabrizio Romano, Transfermarkt, Goal