Saturday 21 January 2017 23:43, UK
Arsene Wenger thinks a fully fit Danny Welbeck could have saved England at Euro 2016.
The 26-year-old returned from a second serious knee injury in the space of two years in the Gunners' recent FA Cup third-round win over Preston.
Welbeck, signed from Manchester United in the summer of 2014, played for just four months last year after returning from a long lay-off before he was again forced to miss eight more months with a fresh knee problem.
That saw him miss out on a place at the European Championships in France, where Roy Hodgson's England were knocked out after a humbling 2-1 defeat to Iceland in the last-16.
But now he is building up his fitness and is likely to play some part in Arsenal's clash with Burnley at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday - with Wenger revealing why he believes the forward is such a popular figure among the club's fan-base.
"First of all he is hugely popular because he did very well with England before he got injured, he was the centre-forward of England, let's not forget that," he said.
"England failed at the European Championships and you cannot stop people from thinking 'If Welbeck was there he would have helped us win against Iceland'.
"Secondly he is a young, promising striker - he has a fantastic spirit and people sense that. He is genuine, committed and humble and you do not find that too many times together.
"Maybe as well people feel sorry for a guy who hasn't played for two years basically, and for me he is rightly, hugely popular."
Wenger believes Welbeck's injuries came at just the wrong time in his development, but has backed him to put his problems behind him as he looks to start again with the Gunners.
"He has pace, good technique and is committed, he wants to help the team," the Arsenal boss continued.
"He is a good finisher as well and that was a bit before he got injured you could see that was coming out because when he played at Man United he didn't score enough goals.
"Suddenly it was coming and so he has been stopped just at the wrong moment. First of all I touch wood and hope. He is not completely out of it.
"We still rest him after two days, one day, because of bone inflammation. That takes a huge time to get completely rid of and you have to be careful not to have a setback."
