Jurrien Timber completed his medical to become an Arsenal player on Friday, with the move now on the verge of an announcement.

Ajax's Jurrien Timber of Ajax celebrates after scoring a goal during the Dutch premier league football match between Ajax Amsterdam and RKC Waalwijk at the Johan-Cruijff ArenA on February 12, 2023. (Photo by MAURICE VAN STEEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
Ajax’s Jurrien Timber of Ajax celebrates after scoring a goal during the Dutch premier league football match between Ajax Amsterdam and RKC Waalwijk at the Johan-Cruijff ArenA on February 12, 2023. (Photo by MAURICE VAN STEEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Fabrizio Romano reported earlier this week that Jurrien Timber would hold his medical at Arsenal on Friday morning, signing his contract to 2028 immediately afterwards.

Around Friday lunchtime, Charles Watts confirmed that Timber had arrived to finalise the move, and he was meeting his new teammates at London Colney.

Then, on Friday afternoon, Romano then confirmed that Timber had successfully completed his medical.

Union Berlin's German forward Kevin Behrens and Ajax's Dutch defender Jurrien Timber vie for the ball during the UEFA Europa League play-off 2nd-leg football match between FC Union Berlin and Ajax Amsterdam in Berlin, on February 23, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Union Berlin’s German forward Kevin Behrens and Ajax’s Dutch defender Jurrien Timber vie for the ball during the UEFA Europa League play-off 2nd-leg football match between FC Union Berlin and Ajax Amsterdam in Berlin, on February 23, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)

In a couple of further updates, Watts first confirmed that Timber is expected to travel to Germany with the squad on Sunday, as Arsenal begin their pre-season tour.

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Watts added that the defender is being signed as a right-back, despite his capabilities to play at centre-back or in midfield.

This isn’t hugely surprising, with previous reports suggesting Mikel Arteta and Edu believe Timber is capable of operating as an inverted right-back at Arsenal, playing in midfield when the team are in possession.

Oleksandr Zinchenko played that role on the other side last season, but Arsenal finished the campaign with Thomas Partey playing the inverted right-back role in Zinchenko’s injury absence.

Netherlands' defender Jurrien Timber attends a press conference at Qatar University training sites in Doha on December 6, 2022 during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)
Netherlands’ defender Jurrien Timber attends a press conference at Qatar University training sites in Doha on December 6, 2022 during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal reached a full agreement with Ajax to sign Timber at a fee of €40m (£34.3m) plus €5m (£4.3m) in bonuses described as “largely realistic”.

So, the total package could end up costing a little under £39m, up from Arsenal’s original bid of £30m but below Ajax’s initial valuation of over £50m.

The 22-year-old made 47 appearances for Ajax in the 2022/23 campaign, and he’s also a Dutch international, playing 15 times for the national team.

Arsenal’s Pre-Season Fixtures

  1. Thursday, July 13th, 18:00 – FC Nurnberg vs Arsenal
  2. Thursday, July 20th, 01:30 – MLS All-Stars vs Arsenal
  3. Saturday, July 22nd, 22:00 – Arsenal vs Manchester United
  4. Thursday, July 27th, 03:30 – Arsenal vs Barcelona
  5. Wednesday, August 2nd, 18:00 – Arsenal vs Monaco
  6. Sunday, August 6th, 16:00 – Arsenal vs Manchester City

Times in BST

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