Champions League

Jurrien Timber out of Arsenal Champions League squad, Cedric Soares included

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 11 September 2023

Timber out of Arsenal Champions League squad, Cedric included

Arsenal new boy Jurrien Timber is left out of the Gunners' squad for the Champions League group stages due to injury, but Cedric Soares is included.

Arsenal new boy Jurrien Timber has been left out of the Gunners' squad for the Champions League group stages.

A 25-man contingent from the North London club was confirmed on Monday evening, as Mikel Arteta leads Arsenal back into Europe's elite competition for the first time in seven years.

Sevilla, Lens and PSV Eindhoven will await Arsenal in Group B, and the latter team - whom Arsenal also faced in last year's Europa League group stage - are first up for the Gunners on September 20.

However, Arteta will be forced to navigate the group stage without the services of Timber, who is still on the long road to recovery from the ACL injury he sustained against Nottingham Forest.

With the Dutchman not expected to return until the spring in the best-case scenario, Arsenal have unsurprisingly left him out of their first Champions League squad, but he could be brought back in for the knockout stages in February should Arteta's men get that far.

Cedric Soares warms up for Arsenal in October 2022 © Reuters

Arsenal will be able to add three new players to the ranks for the last 16, but they will still be limited to 25 List A players, and a pair of fringe right-backs have benefitted from Timber's absence.

Despite not making a single Premier League squad so far this year, experienced right-back Cedric Soares has been named in the Champions League group, having previously represented Sporting Lisbon in the competition.

In addition, a player 14 years Cedric's junior in Lino Sousa has also made the A list, as the former West Bromwich Albion youngster seeks to break into Arteta's setup during the ongoing campaign.

Sousa is the first-choice left-back for the Under-21s, whom he has scored three goals in 32 games for, while he has also been deployed as a wing-back and centre-half during the early years of his career.

Further forward, Mohamed Elneny - the last surviving member of Arsenal's 2016-17 Champions League squad - is also included, despite the fact that he has been sidelined with a knee injury since January.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta pictured in August 2023 © Reuters

Alongside the 25 players on List A, Arsenal will also be able to name a plethora of academy products on List B, which is open to athletes born on or after January 1, 2002.

Third-choice goalkeeper Karl Hein - who was born in April 2002 - will likely be named on List B, as 22-year-old James Hillson joins David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale on List A.

Fellow Hale End products Reuell Walters, Amario Cozier-Duberry and Ethan Nwaneri - the Premier League's youngest-ever player - could also be named on List B to strengthen Arsenal's European squad.

Arsenal have never won the Champions League or the European Cup in its previous format, but they finished as runners-up to Barcelona in the 2005-06 final.