Jurrien Timber has expressed his gratitude to Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag for the indirect role he played in the defender’s £40m transfer to Arsenal.
Timber has made a promising start to life with the Gunners during pre-season and brought fresh balance to Mikel Arteta’s back four as the club prepares to re-enter the Champions League for the first time in six years and mount another Premier League title challenge.
For Timber, this chance may never have come without the input of Ten Hag, having worked under the coach at former club Ajax and handed his first-team debut.
“Erik ten Hag gave me confidence and made me a much better footballer,” Timber said, via the Mirror.
Ten Hag had wanted to take Timber to Manchester United last summer, but he wound up staying for one more year in Amsterdam before head to Arsenal instead. He now describes that set of events, which saw him pre-negotiate the terms around his exit, as the ‘perfect picture’.
“I decided to stay an extra year at Ajax and develop as a player. Now the time feels right,” he said. “Every year I look at how I have grown as a defender. Last year, I extended my contract and made agreements with the club about how I could leave.
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“I was able to enjoy the best football training imaginable at Ajax and make great strides. If you can give something back in return in the form of a transfer fee of around £40m, this has been the almost perfect picture. I won two league titles and enjoyed wonderful years.”
Despite his prior to connections with Ten Hag, Timber was happy to join Arsenal because of the way Arteta sold his vision – Declan Rice is another new signing to have already praised the boss.
“I was already a fan of the way they play, and after several conversations with Mikel Arteta, mainly via Zoom and during days around the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United, we met live and I was completely convinced,” Timber explained.
“Of course, it was mainly football-related, but the coach focused on me as a person and clearly wanted to get to know me better. He also gave me an even better picture of the club, which I knew from a distance thanks to Dennis Bergkamp and Robin van Persie.”
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