Arsenal have received a piece of good news as forward Danny Welbeck may be available to play in the Europa League final in Baku.
Welbeck is winning his race to be fit for Wednesday’s Europa League final. The forward has not played since suffering a horrific broken ankle in November, but Welbeck now looks certain to be fit to face Chelsea in Baku next week. He is likely to be named on the bench for the all-English final.
It would be Welbeck’s final game for Arsenal, with the 28-year-old former Manchester United man leaving at the end of this season when his contract expires. The English forward has scored 32 times in 126 Arsenal appearances since joining from Old Trafford for £18million in 2014.
Welbeck is understood to have stepped up his recovery in Thursday’s behind-closed-doors game against Austrian side LASK Linz. The game was set up by Arsenal chiefs as a final warm-up game before they head out to Baku on Saturday.
It was gathered that Arsenal asked Linz to keep details of Thursday’s training-ground friendly secret, so as not to give Chelsea any insight into their preparations. The game included various tactical drills as instructed by Gunners boss Unai Emery, which allowed the players to fine-tune their strategy ahead of facing Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are unlikely to display any messages in solidarity with absent Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan in next week’s final. Mkhitaryan decided against travelling to Azerbaijan due to safety fears over political tensions between the host nation and the player’s homeland. It is understood players have privately discussed the possibility of sending a message to their team-mate, potentially through a pre-match or post-match T-shirt.
However, it is understood the club feel such a move would be too inflammatory, particularly in a stadium which will be largely filled by Azerbaijanis — and could also leave them facing UEFA sanctions.
