Wenger happy with Welbeck

After almost eight months out with injury, Danny Welbeck made his long awaited return to the pitch during Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Preston North London in the FA Cup third round clash at Deepdale on Saturday night and the striker nearly marked the occasion with a wonderful long range goal.

Welbeck was thwarted by a fine save from Preston goalkeeper Chris Maxwell but nonetheless, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was happy with what he saw from his fit-again striker on the night.

The Frenchman told Arsenal’s official website, “He has been out for such a long time, that just for him to get 15 minutes was great. I think I had a hesitation.

“Had we not come back early I would perhaps have brought him on earlier. He thought he had 20 minutes in his legs and in the end he nearly scored, so that’s good.”

Jon Toral is set to leave this month

Wenger then went on to speak about Jon Toral and admitted that the young Spaniard could well be leaving the Emirates Stadium on loan this month, with Scottish giants Rangers interested in his services.

He continued, “We work on it to see if it is possible, yes. Yes, because he (Toral) has played games there [for Granada] but at the moment he doesn’t play and personally I think it would be a good transition for him.”

Everton keen on Jack Wilshere

Jack Wilshere has repeatedly dropped hints that he will be open to leaving Arsenal on a permanent basis at the end of the current campaign and this has led to a host of clubs closely monitoring the midfielder’s situation at the Emirates Stadium.

Now if the Daily Mirror are to be believed, Everton have been revealed as one of the clubs interested in signing Wilshere over the summer as manager Ronald Koeman is reported to be a keen admirer of the England international.

Another injury blow for Hector Bellerin

Hector Bellerin was unsurprisingly omitted from the squad during Arsenal’s 2-1 FA Cup third round victory over Preston North End at Deepdale on Saturday as the right-back was provided with some much needed rest.

Worryingly though, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has gone on to reveal that Bellerin was missing against Preston not because he was handed a time off from first team duties but due to an injury suffered in training. The Arsenal boss was quoted saying to BT Sport, “Bellerin was injured yesterday in training.”