Forgotten Arsenal Star To Make Long-Awaited Injury Return On Friday

Danny Welbeck is set to make his long-awaited return to the football pitch with a run-out for the Arsenal under-21’s against Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday, according to the Evening Standard.

Welbeck hasn’t played any competitive football since suffering what was initially thought to be a minor knee injury during our 0-0 draw with Chelsea way back in April of last season.

The injury turned out to be far more serious than first thought and Welbeck was eventually forced to undergo surgery in September after failing to overcome the issue during the summer months.

The 25-year-old stepped up his rehabilitation after returning to full training last week and Arsene Wenger confirmed at his press conference on Monday that the attacker would be eased back in to action by playing at least one game for the under-21’s before he’s be considered for the first team again.

The boss is quoted by the Evening Standard as saying:

“Danny Welbeck is stepping up his rehabilitation.

“We have to remember that he has not played since April 2015 and will need a game with the Under-21s, where we can monitor him and leave him free to play at his level of commitment. That looks to be very soon, maybe this week.”

The Evening Standard now claim that Welbeck is set to play 45 minutes for the youth side against Brighton on Friday. His fitness will then be assessed before it’s decided whether he needs to play for the under-21’s again or if he’s ready to return to the first team squad.

My gut feeling is Danny will play two games for the youth team as he’s been out for almost 10 months and will be severely lacking in match practice, so I think the earliest we may see him in the first team is against Leicester on the 14th.

His return will come as a major boost as we desperately need someone to take the pressure off Olivier Giroud up front and provide another goal threat, as was proven once again with last night’s 0-0 draw at home to Southampton.