Wenger defends Arsenal's 'exceptional' £16m summer signing

Danny Welbeck has drawn some criticism for his performances recently, but Arsene Wenger claims he is still delighted to have signed him from Manchester United, according to the Metro.

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The £16m man looked to be starting his Arsenal career brightly, but hasn’t kept up his fine form.

He has scored seven times in 26 games this season, which isn’t a terrible return. We expect more from him however, especially when he was so regularly deployed as a long striker in Olivier Giroud’s absence.

The media are targeting Welbeck at the moment, which is surely due to the fact that we are heading to Old Trafford this Monday for our FA Cup quarter final clash with his former club.

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Wenger believes this is the only reason questions are being asked of the 24-year-old, and has staunchly defended his decision to bring the England international to the Emirates.

“Danny puts a big effort in, he plays very well for me and is an exceptional player who will have a great future here,” he said.
“I am convinced the subject is raised because he is a former United player. I am very, very happy that I bought him. He’s one of the players who has played the most games for us but not in the last couple of games.
“You can make an individual debate on every single player but what is important is that you have moments in the season where some players play a bit less.
“Most of the time it’s up front because not every single player can play every game in the biggest part of the season. You have a player like Giroud who is playing at the moment but he missed four months. During that period, Welbeck played every game.”

Welbeck may not be the world class striker so many fans were calling for this past summer, but he proved a solid squad player throughout the season.

He hasn’t started the last couple of games, but might start at Old Trafford due to his high defensive work-rate.