Arsenal have announced the signing of defender Jurriën Timber from Ajax, making him our second signing of the summer. While the details are still emerging, his arrival continues or at least re-establiehs a vital and productive relationship with a club of similar spirit, values, and style. From Ajax, we’ve welcomed Overmars, Bergkamp (admittedly by way of Inter), Vermaelen, Sanogo (cough), and now Timber.

Once of the less-explored aspects of the Invincibles legacy has been its imprint on the generation of fans and players who were old enough to witness that era first-hand and form a relationship with this club through that era and its players. That window has all but shut, at least for the young twentysomethings Arteta seems to prefer. While Timber is probably too young to have seen Bergkiamp or Overmars play for the Arsenal, he’s (perhaps unfortunately) old enough to have seen Sanogo play; perhaps more pertinently, he’s old enough to have watched Vermaelen here. We’ll return to that one in a omment.

Speaking for himself, Timber has spoken of his older brothers’ support of Arsenal, saying that “I have always been a fan of Arsenal….because of my brothers. They were always Arsenal fans, and I just loved seeing Arsenal play. They had big players, the way they played, the style. I just love the club.” This does seem like more than your standard, pre-packed PR team pablum. That Ajax-Arsenal pipeline feels more palpable.

But, to pose an age-old question (or at least one that dates back to Vermaelen’s time here: can he play DM? Timber told arsenal.com that he “can play as a central defender, as a right full-back, sometimes even midfield.” Indeed, among his other qualities, Timber is an aggressive, progressive passer and dribbler, ranking in the 99th percentile in these categories among all centre-backs in Europe”s “big five” leagues. Whether such stats qualify him to play is an open question, but his versatility is such that he can play CB and RB, giving us quality cover & competition at those positions if not at DM as well. We can’t replicate Guardiola’s two-deep at every position approach, but we can find players like Timber, Havertz, Trossard, and Zinchenko who can play a wide variety of nominal positions while expanding the definitions of each along the way.

Aged 22, TImber is certainly young enough to be malleable and adaptable. His signing may not feel as sexy as that of another similarly versatile player in Moises Caicedo, but we’ve gotten him for something in the range of £40m rather than than the £100m or more that Brighton now expect (courtesy in part of our own signing of Rice for £105m). It looks like Timber will join the squad for the US tour. Will we see Rice’s signing announced tomorrow? Time will tell. Set that aside for now and savor a signing that gives a nod to the past with an eye to the future.