by Lewis Ambrose

Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck won’t take part in the Barclays Asia Trophy next week as Arsenal step up their pre-season preparation.

The striker didn’t feature in the last month of the season, and started just twice after scoring the winner in the FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford at the beginning of March.

A kneee injury saw the England international miss the final five Premier League games of the season as well as the FA Cup Final, and he still hasn’t got over the issue. Now he will be racing to prove his fitness before the Emirates Cup in the last weekend of July, hoping to play a part as the season kicks off just a week later.

The injury is a bruised bone, and Welbeck was only expected to be out for a few days but the injury had dragged on and is sure to cause some frustration now. The striker only managed eight goals in his debut campaign for Arsenal, and will be eager to impress.

Ideal

Welbeck endured a tricky first season after a move from Manchester United. He was overplayed as Olivier Giroud was injured and the entire team struggled for form. Welbeck will be looking forward to finally getting a chance to play with Mesut Özil behind him, but this is not the ideal start to his first pre-season with the Gunners.