Injuries and suspensions decimated the seasons of several Premier League players last season, each of whom will be been to put 2023-24 behind them.
The summer provides a chance to regain rhythm and fitness ahead of the new campaign, as clubs prepare to welcome back long-term absentees.
While much of the focus of the summer will be on new arrivals, these five names will be like new signings to their sides after missing much of the previous campaign.
We look at five Premier League players who will be ‘like a new signing’ next season.
Jurrien Timber (Arsenal)
Jurrien Timber’s start at Arsenal could hardly have been worse. A summer arrival from Ajax, the Dutch defender impressed in pre-season and an encouraging performance in the Community Shield win over Manchester City suggested the Gunners had made a shrewd signing. However, disaster struck. On the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign, Timber sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to his right knee when tackling Nottingham Forest’s Brennan Johnson. He missed almost the entire 2023-24 season, returning to feature for just 21 minutes against Everton on the final weekend.

Jurrien Timber, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament in Arsenal’s first game of the Premier League season, returns to see out the end of the final one. pic.twitter.com/bN8PdzuqlG
? The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 19, 2024

Comfortable across the backline and in possession, Timber’s...