Arsenal swoop for Tottenham targets in light of Timber injury

Stuart Telford

• 15 Aug 2023 13:12 BST
• 3 min read

Tottenham Hotspur targets Marc Guehi and Edmond Tapsoba have shot to the top of Arsenal's transfer shortlist in light of Jurrien Timber's injury - which has implications for Gabriel.

Timber arrived alongside Declan Rice and Kai Havertz this summer in what has been an exciting window for Gunners fans, but the Dutch defender pulled up injured 50 minutes into Arsenal's Premier League opener against Nottingham Forest, which they won 2-1.

Arsenal have yet to confirm the extent of the damage to Timber's ACL, but it seems likely that he will be out for months rather than weeks, and the club will return to the market to replace their 40 million acquisition from Ajax.

READ: Arteta hits back at critics after ANOTHER injury setback

"Arsenal are prepared to add another left-sided defender to their ranks before the 1 September transfer deadline after losing Jurrien Timber to a serious knee injury," reports the Daily Express' Ryan Taylor.

Guehi and Tabsoba shortlisted

"Marc Guehi and Edmond Tapsoba are two defenders that are likely to feature towards the top of any revised Arsenal defensive shortlist."

Spurs have been linked with both Crystal Palace's Guehi and Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen in recent months, with Ange Postcoglou keen to further bolster his defence despite the signing of Wolfsburg's Micky van de Ven.

READ: How Tottenham will line up WITHOUT Harry Kane

The fact both are now linked with a move to the Emirates will be frustrating for Tottenham, but it might be even worse for Gabriel.

The Brazil centre-back had started 73 Premier League games prior to the season-opener, but the fact he couldn't make the starting XI in a system with three centre-backs doesn't augur well for him.

Gabriel has now been linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabia, and would be expected to raise around €37.6m per his valuation on FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm - which would also help the Gunners stay clear of UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations.