Arsenal mean business! Arteta wants to fix his biggest problem with €80m signing

11 Aug 2026 16:32 BST | 4 min read

Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

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Arsenal are showing an interest in Barcelona defender Jules Kounde amid Jurrien Timber's ongoing injury struggles.

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The Netherlands international has been a long-term absentee from Arsenal's squad. Timber looked to be on the mend towards the end of the season and even featured in the Champions League final, but a fresh setback forced him onto the treatment table again.

Mikel Arteta recently revealed that the right-back was still "weeks away" from returning to full fitness, meaning that he is unlikely to be available when the Gunners kick off the new season.

Current ETV

Jurriën Timber

D (R)

Arsenal

Jurriën Timber

D (R)

Arsenal

ETV Range

€57.6M - €70.4M

As FootballTransfers explained on Monday, this is a huge headache for Arteta because Timber is nigh on irreplaceable. Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera have done a satisfactory job covering at right-back, but the former also has a dodgy injury record, while the latter is not entirely comfortable playing out of position.

What's more, there was an expectation heading into this summer that White would leave Arsenal after struggling for minutes over the past two seasons. Obviously, the club won't sanction his exit unless they have an adequate replacement lined up.

Arsenal want Kounde

At this stage in the development of the Arteta project, the modus operandi isn't simply to sign players of a similar level but better ones. Christos Tzolis, for example, is an upgrade on Leandro Trossard.

So if Arsenal were to dip into the market for a right-back, the player in question would have to be significantly better than White and, ideally, also better than Timber. The issue is that there aren't many players out there who can claim to be an upgrade on the latter.

The Dutchman has become one of the best right-backs in the world, and data analytics firm SciSports believes that there are only two better players out there who are comparable to Timber: Konrad Laimer and Jules Kounde.

The former is definitely not on the market after signing a lucrative contract extension at Bayern Munich this summer, but the latter could actually become available at the right price, according to Sport.

Kounde was one of Barcelona's key players in Hansi Flick's first season at the club, but his importance waned last term, and the German coach no longer deems the France international undroppable.

In fact, Flick is said to be content to head into the new season with Eric Garcia and young Xavi Espart as his right-back options, meaning that Barcelona are willing to consider offers for Kounde this summer.

This has supposedly piqued the interest of Arsenal, though nothing appears to be advanced just yet. Reports previously suggested that Barcelona would want around €80 million for the 27-year-old.

This would be a steep price to pay for someone who may not be a guaranteed starter when Timber is fully fit, but Arsenal have already shown this summer that they mean business with the €87.5m signing of Bruno Guimaraes, a player they did not desperately need.

The interest in Kounde shouldn't come as a massive surprise. He is the perfect Arteta defender, as he is capable of playing at full-back and centre-back. With Arsenal having so far failed to prise Ezri Konsa away from Aston Villa, Kounde looks a logical alternative target.