Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber was absent from group training with the Netherlands ahead of their Nations League opener against Germany on Thursday night.
The Dutchman recently returned to competitive action with the Gunners after an extended lay-off due to a groin issue. He came on as a substitute versus Sunderland before starting at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Timber played just over 100 minutes in both matches, and Voetbal International now reveal that the versatile defender is following an individual training program after the Netherlands consulted Arsenal.
Xavi Hernandez’s side are aware that the 25-year-old needs to be handled with extra caution. Hence, Timber sat out the group training session today, which was also confirmed by journalist Jeroen Kapteijns.
Oranje het trainingsveld op zonder Jurriën Timber voor de training van dinsdagochtend. #neddui pic.twitter.com/vhTTSqJqXr
— Jeroen Kapteijns (@JeroenKapteijns) September 22, 2026
Timber, who arrived for an initial £34 million from Ajax in 2023, has been a key player for the Gunners when fit and firing. He has been the regular choice in the right-back position.
Ben White took advantage of Timber’s nagging groin injury to become the regular right-back at the start of the season, but the Englishman picked up a groin issue of his own this month.
This paved the way for Timber’s return to league action at Sunderland before featuring against Brighton.
The Dutchman was given a complete break for the Carabao Cup third-round tie over Ipswich Town, which was played between those fixtures.
It is quite clear that Timber’s workload needs to be managed to avoid an injury recurrence, and the same has been conveyed to the Netherlands.
The Netherlands face Germany on Thursday before taking on Greece and Serbia. They face the latter twice before the international break ends.
With four Nations League fixtures, Timber could potentially feature in a couple, while being completely rested for the other two.
He looks poised to miss out against Germany, given his absence from training today.
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