Arsene Wenger has expanded on some of the fitness issues in the squad at the moment, and any hope that Danny Welbeck was on the verge of a return to help the forward line has been dashed.
According to the Arsenal manager, the former Man Utd man is unlikely to feature before September as he looks to shake off a knee injury.
“He’s not close,” said Wenger, “because he has not started full training. He’s at least three weeks away.”
And we’d pay attention to the words ‘at least’ there.
Hector Bellerin is available, while on Alexis he said, “He did good work during the week and is available for selection.”
And ahead of what now feels like a must-win game against Crystal Palace, Wenger said, “We have shown that we have the quality to respond, so let’s focus on that on Sunday.
“It’s how you respond that makes your season.”
It’s also how you play in the first place, but we know what he means.
—
Quotes via @JamesOlley and @arsenal
Poor Dat Guy 🙁
He’s a true gunner now. He knows all the nicknames of the medical staff’s cabbage patch dolls and everything.
He needs to have an objective of no less than 15 goals (in all competitions). This is a big season for him.
Let’s worry about him getting 15 games first.
How does a guy just be injured throughout the summer without games…this is now not normal. Out with them voodoo dolls now! Fucking hell
never experienced a knee injury then? foolish comments
Whats foolish is you replying a foolish comment.
I know you are but what am I?
Danny is not well and not back.
The good news is that we are slightly better equipped to handle injuries than two seasons ago when this seeming unavoidable monster derailed our season.
That in no way means that the situation should get worse. I wish TR7, Welbeck and Wilshere speedy recoveries.
One game in the season and already 3 men down…
Doesn’t bode well for the season if the injuries keep coming like this..
Well, two of them have been down since last season, so it’s not like they are this season’s injuries, more a permanent thing that Shad can do nothing about. Couple of weeks ago, though, I read that Welbeck’s knees were making good progress and he was ‘close’. Now he’s ‘not close’ once again, whereas Wilshere, who previously was out for two months, is the one who is ‘close’. When Wilshere’s prognosis was initially given as two months I mentally doubled it – an optimistic projection when you consider how often ‘ a few days’ has turned into a year –… Read more »
Would really like to see Wellbsck succeed at Arsenal.
Hope he gets back fit and in contention as soon as!
Speedy recovery Danny, and make it your break through season, you know you can!
Bone bruises can take a long time to heal, but this does seem to be a long time. It’s going to be some time until Welbeck can get into the team with Walcott, Sanchez, Chamberlin, Giroud and Carzola or Ramsey (when they are wide) in front of him.