Will Arsenal be ruthless with Welbeck or gamble on his recovery?

We will find out in the next 72 hours the seriousness of Danny Welbeck’s injury, but the fear is he could be out for the season. That will coincide with his contract running out, a deal that wasn’t guaranteed to be extended anyway.

Danny Welbeck
Significant right ankle injury. Danny remains in hospital and will continue to be assessed. A further update will be issued over the next 72 hours.

Believed to be one of the most popular characters in the dressing room, there’s a possibility he’s played for Arsenal for the last time. It sums up his gunners’ career, he’s never been able to get a consistent run in the squad, always having a spell on the side-lines. I believe the striker would have had to have made a hard choice next summer regardless. Does he stay where he would have a chance of adding to his medal collection or does he sacrifice winning things for the sake of starting each week?

Unai Emery will no doubt be ruthless like he was with Jack Wilshere and be honest about his chances of making the first team. With an offer retracted for Ramsey, the board wouldn’t pay over the odds to keep the England International, any salary might be a case of take it or leave it.

In the case of Diaby, Rosiscky, Cazorla, etc we have always been a family club who look after our talent, we won’t look at him as an asset with zero value. Even if we gambled on him finding his fitness, as part of his recovery it might not suit him to be playing the odd cup game every couple of weeks. This setback might change his outlook, a young man who might not want to miss anymore game time.

We took a gamble by not replacing Walcott or Giroud, decent senior players to have on the bench. It was a risk to assume Welbeck was going to stay healthy. This could see Eddie Nketiah promoted to back up striker or a replacement to be brought in January. The positive news is our fringe players have got us through to the next stage of the Europa League, meaning Europe is not a factor now until February.

So gooners is that the end for Welbeck or would you still offer him a new deal?

Dan Smith

15 Comments

  1. I think it’s over for him, not renewing his contract might seem kinda harsh now that he’s injured because it’ll mean trying yo prove to another club that he’s still got it when he recovers but it’s the best option for the club.
    I hope to see Eddie Nketiah start our remaining Europa league games, throw him into the sea and let him learn to swim and flow with the tides.
    The look on Guendozi’s face the night Welbeck got injured says it all, I can’t imagine what agony he would’ve been in before getting to the hospital.
    All the best Dat Guy, and get well soon, as long as you’re still an Arsenal player, we are behind you

  2. Since our squad is full I think it’s safe to assume Aubameyang replaced Walcott and Lacazette replaced Giroud. Mkhitaryan came in for Sanchez. As we have discovered, all were upgrades except for the latter of course. Mkhitaryan may still come good but it doesn’t seem likely going by recent performances. As for Welbeck it would be best to not renew his contract. Like Wilshere and Chamberlain, longterm injuries are a part of him and I doubt he will ever complete a full season without a major injury. Even if we renewed his contract, I think we would struggle to get a decent fee for him given his fitness record. It’s sad but I think this will be the end for him and Arsenal. If it’s any consolation to him, top teams behave this way. Even the great Ibrahimovic had his contract terminated when he suffered his knee injury at Man utd.

    1. QD, How I love sober minded realism, like your post. When one can put emotion and bias aside – which it is difficult to do for ANY clubs fan, as I well recognise – then the truth is easier to find. I fully respect those , like Phil, who think we must renew his contract for reasons of loyalty to a fine human- with which no one surely can disagree – but I would remind them that Arsenal is not a charity and no Prem player is ever going to starve. Our PRIME responsibility once a player is no use to us, for however unlucky a reason, is to the team’s success. I offer Diaby as my prime example of my way of thinking. Football can be a cruel business and injury, esp career threatening injury, is one mitigating factor in favour of otherwise obscenely high salaries for all, some more obscene than others, but ALL obscene just the same.

  3. Arsenal Football Club has ALWAYS had values and standards that are respected worldwide.Why would we not wish to stand by these now?If DW injured himself outside of playing or training then it would be a completely different story.But he didn’t.He was injured playing.
    It’s too early to know how long he will be out but it’s unlikely he will be back this season.Ramsey was a year out so it could be this time next season before he is back playing.Do we really just leave him to fend for himself after 30th June?Its just is not the way Arsenal Football Club conducts itself.Whatever the outcome I would be very surprised if Arsenal Football Club Do not Do the right thing for the player and uphold the integrity of the Club.

  4. Do the right thing!
    This is a value which pays great dividends in the long run. Players give their all when they trust employers to support them in bad times. To abandon Welbeck now would be mean & will send a very wrong message -‘ The club is only interested in you when fit.’. Who will give his all if that attitude is allowed to foster?
    Do the right thing – Give him a year long extension!

  5. Not dissing this topic BUT was it not discussed already only yesterday! So why REPEAT so soon? Are we now the BBC!

      1. Trust you to bring up Wenger at every opportunity! Twice in 15 words of your post . Not at all in my long post. Irony perhaps?

  6. It’s a good question, I’d be a bit torn between two options. I heard yesterday people calling for him to get a new contract as a way of support. We have done that in the past but it worked against us, but it was a nice respectful way of doing things. Players don’t show the clubs anywhere near the same sort of respect anymore, they just don’t. They earn fortunes but even some of the most unlikely ones can surprise you by running contracts down and making sure the club gets nothing while they get a better more greedy deal. Danny is a great guy, dependable, doesn’t fall out with anybody. At the most I would offer him a one season extension, not another 3 or 4 year deal. Unless Emery thinks he’s a quality sub there is no point getting too emotional about the situation. The best case scenario is if Danny can recover before this season finishes. Then we make the best choice for Arsenal.

  7. Im afraid i think thats his last game for us, he is such an honest lad, he always give 100% but maybe its better for him to join a everton,westham, Bournemouth, that kind of team we will miss you danny best of luck

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