{"id":1231,"date":"2026-05-30T08:55:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T05:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T08:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T05:55:46","slug":"arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Arteta Confirms Jurrien Timber Ready as Arsenal Face PSG in UCL Final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mikel Arteta says Jurrien Timber is fully available and ready to begin Arsenal\u2019s Champions League final on Saturday against Paris Saint-Germain, a timely lift for the Gunners.<\/p>\n<p>The versatile Dutch defender has been sidelined for a stretch of time, not featuring for Arsenal since being substituted during the opening half of the 2-0 Premier League victory over Everton on March 14. The exit sparked a spell of fitness problems involving both an ankle and the groin.<\/p>\n<p>Arteta\u2019s update comes after a recovery that has taken longer than first hoped. Timber has missed the club\u2019s last 14 matches in all competitions and did not play in the closing game of the domestic season, even as Arsenal secured the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years.<\/p>\n<h3>Quick facts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Mikel Arteta believes Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s Champions League final on Saturday.<\/li>\n<li>Arsenal face Paris Saint-Germain in the final in Budapest.<\/li>\n<li>Timber last played for the Gunners after going off in the first half of the 2-0 Premier League win over Everton on March 14.<\/li>\n<li>He has been dealing with ankle and groin issues.<\/li>\n<li>Timber has missed Arsenal\u2019s previous 14 games across all competitions.<\/li>\n<li>He returned to training earlier this week and was named on Wednesday in the Netherlands World Cup squad by Ronald Koeman.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Despite initially looking like a serious uncertainty for the showpiece in Budapest, Timber got back into training earlier this week. He was subsequently included in the Netherlands\u2019 World Cup squad on Wednesday by Ronald Koeman, even though he has had limited recent playing time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mikel Arteta says Jurrien Timber is fully available and ready to begin Arsenal\u2019s Champions League final on Saturday against Paris Saint-Germain, a timely lift for the Gunners. The versatile Dutch defender has been sidelined for a stretch of time, not featuring for Arsenal since being substituted during the opening half of the 2-0 Premier League [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Arteta Update on Timber Fitness for Arsenal vs PSG UCL","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Mikel Arteta confirms Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s UCL final vs PSG, delivering a major boost ahead of Saturday\u2019s","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Arteta Update on Timber Fitness for Arsenal vs PSG UCL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mikel Arteta confirms Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s UCL final vs PSG, delivering a major boost ahead of Saturday\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arteta Update on Timber Fitness for Arsenal vs PSG UCL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mikel Arteta confirms Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s UCL final vs PSG, delivering a major boost ahead of Saturday\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zalebs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T05:55:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zibuyile Dladla\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zibuyile Dladla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\"},\"headline\":\"Arteta Confirms Jurrien Timber Ready as Arsenal Face PSG in UCL Final\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T05:55:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":274,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arteta Update on Timber Fitness for Arsenal vs PSG UCL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T05:55:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\"},\"description\":\"Mikel Arteta confirms Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s UCL final vs PSG, delivering a major boost ahead of Saturday\u2019s\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Arteta Confirms Jurrien Timber Ready as Arsenal Face PSG in UCL Final\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Zalebs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e\",\"name\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zibuyile Dladla\"},\"description\":\"Zibuyile began her media journey as a sales intern at Mediamark (Kagiso Media) before moving into digital content creation for ZAlebs.com. Over four years, she helped evolve the platform from a simple blog into one of South Africa\u2019s leading independent entertainment news sites. Following ZAlebs\u2019 transition to Celebrity Worx in 2016, Zibuyile was promoted to Executive Editor, recognized for her sharp audience insight and ability to match editorial with branded content. Highlights of her time include a Bookmark Award nomination, judging TLC\u2019s Next Great Presenter, reporting from the MTV EMAs, and building partnerships with radio stations like YFM, Cliff Central, and Good Hope FM. Her editorial work also expanded to include fast-growing digital verticals\u2014such as lifestyle tech, online entertainment, and gambling-related content\u2014tailored to evolving reader interests and brand opportunities.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/za.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/zibuyile-dladla-9a26628a\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/zalebs.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/zibuyile-dladla\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Arteta Update on Timber Fitness for Arsenal vs PSG UCL","description":"Mikel Arteta confirms Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s UCL final vs PSG, delivering a major boost ahead of Saturday\u2019s","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Arteta Update on Timber Fitness for Arsenal vs PSG UCL","og_description":"Mikel Arteta confirms Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s UCL final vs PSG, delivering a major boost ahead of Saturday\u2019s","og_url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/","og_site_name":"Zalebs","article_published_time":"2026-05-30T05:55:46+00:00","author":"Zibuyile Dladla","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zibuyile Dladla","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/"},"author":{"name":"Zibuyile Dladla","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e"},"headline":"Arteta Confirms Jurrien Timber Ready as Arsenal Face PSG in UCL Final","datePublished":"2026-05-30T05:55:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/"},"wordCount":274,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/","name":"Arteta Update on Timber Fitness for Arsenal vs PSG UCL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-30T05:55:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e"},"description":"Mikel Arteta confirms Jurrien Timber is fit and ready for Arsenal\u2019s UCL final vs PSG, delivering a major boost ahead of Saturday\u2019s","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/arteta-confirms-jurrien-timber-ready-as-arsenal-face-psg-in-ucl-final\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Arteta Confirms Jurrien Timber Ready as Arsenal Face PSG in UCL Final"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/","name":"Zalebs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6da1a9a659a2b9fb37587bf050637d1e","name":"Zibuyile Dladla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1f581f0bb57ed4fd97eeb8353242d5a3c12548c2ff26373e9e5be1e00d4fad05?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zibuyile Dladla"},"description":"Zibuyile began her media journey as a sales intern at Mediamark (Kagiso Media) before moving into digital content creation for ZAlebs.com. Over four years, she helped evolve the platform from a simple blog into one of South Africa\u2019s leading independent entertainment news sites. Following ZAlebs\u2019 transition to Celebrity Worx in 2016, Zibuyile was promoted to Executive Editor, recognized for her sharp audience insight and ability to match editorial with branded content. Highlights of her time include a Bookmark Award nomination, judging TLC\u2019s Next Great Presenter, reporting from the MTV EMAs, and building partnerships with radio stations like YFM, Cliff Central, and Good Hope FM. Her editorial work also expanded to include fast-growing digital verticals\u2014such as lifestyle tech, online entertainment, and gambling-related content\u2014tailored to evolving reader interests and brand opportunities.","sameAs":["https:\/\/za.linkedin.com\/in\/zibuyile-dladla-9a26628a"],"url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/author\/zibuyile-dladla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}