Jurrien Timber has made his long-awaited return to Arsenal training – the latest step in his recovery from a long-term knee injury.

The Dutchman, who sustained the ACL rupture on his Premier League debut back in August, received a warm welcome from his teammates at Wednesday’s special training session at Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta confirmed last week that the £38million summer signing would indeed be making this jump. “I really hope so, he’s doing really well,” Arteta said when asked if Timber would be back before the end of the season. “He’s been around some players on the pitch and we are going to start to do some bits with us in the next week or so.

“Then we need to see how that evolves, his confidence levels, his fitness levels and hopefully then the answer is ‘yes’.”

As promised by Arteta, he has made that step and it is a meaningful one. Following a flawless February, Arsenal squad’s next test in the league is an away trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United.