Arsenal step up push for defensive cover with Timber and Saliba sidelined

Arsenal are stepping up their efforts to sign defensive cover for William Saliba after Mikel Arteta revealed Jurriën Timber is well away from returning to competitive action. Saliba will be sidelined for an extended period after breaking down during the World Cup with a back injury.

After Arsenal lost a second successive friendly when Borussia Dortmund won 3-2 on Sunday to lift the Emirates Cup in a performance that featured several defensive mistakes, Arteta would not be drawn on when the France defender is expected to return, but said it would take “some time to heal”.

There are also concerns over Timber, who pulled out of the Netherlands squad on the eve of the World Cup after failing to recover from a persistent groin injury that led him to miss most of the run-in last season.

“Jurriën is progressing really well,” Arteta said. “He’s on the pitch, he’s doing quite a lot right now, but it’s still weeks away. I cannot tell you how much.

“William Saliba is in rest mode at the moment for two weeks. He had to do almost nothing, an aggravated injury, so it’s going to take some time to heal.”

Pressed on how Arsenal will cope without Saliba, he said: “We have experienced that in the past, unfortunately. When he’s been available, he’s hit home and the stats are incredible. We know we lost a massive player, the same with Jurriën.”

Arsenal have had a bid for Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa rejected and are expected to return with a new offer for the England defender, who is also capable of playing at right-back. Villa value him at £60m, but with less than two years left on his contract Arsenal are unwilling to pay that much for the 28-year-old. The Premier League champions have also shown an interest in signing Cristian Romero from Tottenham, but any move for the Argentina defender is extremely unlikely given Spurs’ reluctance to sell to their north London rivals.

Arteta, who started with Cristhian Mosquera in central defence alongside Gabriel Magalhães against Dortmund, said Arsenal’s existing players must get up to speed before Sunday’s Community Shield against Manchester City, but did not rule out bringing in another defender.

“It has to be the right player in the market to make us much better,” he said. “We conceded some poor goals today, in the way we competed especially. But that’s a collective responsibility. So we need to improve with the players we have.”