Arsenal table £30m offer for Ajax defender Jurrien Timber

Arsenal are working on a deal to sign Ajax defender Jurrien Timber and have made an opening offer worth £30 million, reports The Athletic journalist David Ornstein.

The Eredivisie club want £50m for the Netherlands international, but there is optimism a compromise can be reached between both clubs.

Personal terms with Timber are believed to be in place between Arsenal and the 22-year-old.

The north London club missed out on the Premier League title to Manchester City last term despite being league leaders for the majority of the campaign.

A back injury to William Saliba in March proved costly after the France international was ruled out of action for the rest of the season.

His unavailability affected their form as they suffered three losses and three draws in their last 11 games, handing Man City the chance to pip them to the title.

Arsenal want to prevent such from happening next term and are keen to bolster their options at the back.

While Timber is primarily a centre-back, the Ajax star can also play as a right-back and is comfortable playing on the right on a back-three.

He is very comfortable on the ball and he averaged more touches (90.5) per game in the Eredivisie last season than any player.

The Dutchman boasts an impressive passing range, technicality and dribbling ability which have caught the eyes of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

59% of his touches in the Dutch top flight last term were in the middle third, and the Gunners could do with such a confident defender.

Timber’s intricate passing range and ball-carrying skills could give Arteta several ideas and an option of permanently playing with a back-three.

Arsenal need to up their initial bid to have a chance of landing the Dutchman, and failure to do so could see another club beat them to his services.