Arsène Wenger has confirmed that Danny Welbeck will miss the FA Cup final and England’s forthcoming matches against the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia. The forward has been struggling with a knee injury and Wenger said last week that he would assess his fitness before the game against Aston Villa at Wembley. But his participation always looked unlikely and his absence will extend past the Euro 2016 qualifier in Ljubljana on 14 June.
“Danny Welbeck will not be fit for us or England. That’s basically the only injury we have at the moment,” said Wenger on Wednesday. “I was prepared for that. He didn’t train until Friday so I knew that he would be short for the FA Cup. When I last saw Roy Hodgson I was confident Welbeck would be available. We called the FA yesterday to explain that his bone bruising of the knee has not healed and that he had absolutely got to rest. I don’t know what Roy will say.”
The concern may be more pressing for Hodgson than for Wenger, who has not been able to call on Welbeck since 26 April. Since then, Theo Walcott has returned to match sharpness and his hat-trick from the centre-forward position against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday made a strong case for his inclusion at Wembley.
Wenger would not be drawn on his team selection – although he said that he was close to deciding his lineup – but he reiterated that Walcott merits serious consideration in his preferred role.
“He can do it on a regular basis for us, of course,” the Frenchman said. “When he got injured it was playing as a central striker against Tottenham. It took him a while to get back to his full form and I think in the future he will be a central striker. He has shown that he is back in good form but that’s normal. What is important is that we do not make too many individual cases before the Cup final. It’s the whole team who can win it.”
Wenger said the FA Cup final presents an opportunity to rubber-stamp a season of progress in which Arsenal completed their Premier League schedule with a secure grip on third place. “We feel we have better stability,” he said. “We are more stable defensively than we were before and I think that’s a good basis to go from there. We still have some improvements to make but overall I think there’s a style of play that we set and our balance between attacking and defending is much better. We have a good opportunity to show that on Saturday.”
There was a note of caution about the threat of Aston Villa, and particularly the presence of Christian Benteke. The striker was still finding his way to full fitness after a long-term injury when the two teams last met – in a 5-0 victory for Arsenal on 1 February – and Wenger connected Villa’s earlier struggles to his absence.
“He’s a player who has a massive potential,” he said. “I think some of the bad fortune of Aston Villa this season was linked with the fact that Benteke was not there. When he came back into the team, he gave a lift to everybody and of course he has a fantastic leap, he’s an intelligent player as well and he can score goals with his feet. He’s fantastic in the air and can score headers against any team in the league.”
Wenger was asked about persistent rumours linking Arsenal with a move for the Chile and Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal. He admitted to an admiration for the player but pointed out that his focus lies purely on Saturday’s fixture. “If I tell you I like him, you will announce the transfer just after that,” he said. “If you want me to say I like Arturo Vidal, yes I like Arturo Vidal. Are we in a transfer mode? I say, no.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mathieu Debuchy have successfully completed their returns to full training but Wenger said they are “short of competition”.