The 25-year-old was in attendance at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon to watch his team-mates lose 3-2 to Borussia Dortmund in pre-season.
Mikel Arteta has shared an update on the injuries to William Saliba and Jurrien Timber, and it is not good news for Arsenal ahead of the start of the new Premier League season. The Gunners manager confirmed that both key defenders will miss the opening fixtures following the club’s pre-season clash against Borussia Dortmund. Speaking after Sunday’s pre-season match, the Spanish head coach admitted that neither player is close to returning to full team training.
Arteta said in his post-Dortmund press conference: "I cannot be very precise with that. But Jurrien is progressing really well. He's on the pitch, he's doing quite a lot right now. But he's still weeks away. I cannot tell you how much. "And William is in rest mode at the moment for two weeks. He had to do almost nothing, don't aggravate the injury. It's going to take some time to heal. We know that. And as quick as we have more news, we can inform."
Timber was then ruled out of the World Cup and underwent minor surgery on the groin injury over the summer.
Saliba, meanwhile, suffered a serious back injury while playing for France at the World Cup. The former Saint-Etienne defender, who has been playing through the pain barrier since March, broke down during his side's 2-0 semi-final defeat to Spain last month. It has since been revealed that Saliba could miss up to five months of action and may require surgery on his back. Arsenal are further weakened in defence by the absence of William Saliba, who is expected to be out for a matter of months. While he does not require surgery on his back injury, Arsenal have confirmed that the centre-back will miss an "extended period".
David Raya has already been back ahead of schedule and took part in the warm-up against Dortmund despite not being in the squad. Arteta insisted he is confident that the late returners will be available for the start of the Premier League season in just under two weeks, though they will be managed carefully for the rest of pre-season. "Some of them were back today, watching the game," Arteta said. "Bukayo and David were [back] yesterday, a bit earlier than expected which is great to see.