Mikel Arteta revealed "there is a chance" Jurrien Timber could return for Arsenal before the end of the season.

Timber has not featured for the Gunners since March 14, when he suffered a suspected groin injury during their dramatic win over Everton.

The 24-year-old has won the most tackles of any Arsenal player across all competitions this season (50) and won the fourth-most duels (190), despite not featuring in their last 12 matches.

He has also directly contributed to 10 goals this term (four goals, six assists), the most of any Premier League defender in 2025-26.

Timber's importance grew further on Sunday, when Ben White suffered a season-ending knee injury against West Ham.

Arsenal face Burnley and Crystal Palace in their final two league games, with two wins guaranteeing their first league title since 2003-04, before the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Cristhian Mosquera and Declan Rice have both filled in at right-back over the course of the season, but Arteta insisted Arsenal are looking to get Timber back on the pitch as soon as possible.

"There is a chance," said Arteta when asked if Timber will be available again this season.

"But how big that chance is, I cannot tell you. I'm being completely honest.

"He's going to try to do everything he can to convert that chance as high as possible in the shortest possible period. And that's the challenge ahead.

"He's progressed a little bit in the last few days. He's feeling better. We're going to try to get him available as quickly as possible. But he's obviously been out now for a while, unfortunately.

"He's such an important player for us – we all know that – and he's doing everything that he possibly can to help the team in any capacity.

"But we need to look at alternatives. The two players that we have there [at right-back] are not available at the moment.

"We need to look and do something else. The good thing is that we have experienced that all over the pitch this season."