Monreal Says Welbeck Is Arsenal's Biggest Hope For The New Season

Arsenal left-back Nacho Monreal has hailed the summer arrival of Danny Welbeck, claiming the former Manchester United striker is the Gunners' biggest hope for the new campaign.

The North London side completed the signing of the English international striker on deadline day, paying £16m to rivals United to secure his services.

Arsene Wenger handed him his full debut during the 2-2 draw against Manchester City on Saturday, with the forward going close to scoring his first goal for the Gunners when he struck the post early in the game.

Monreal hopes Welbeck settles quickly at the Emirates as, following Olivier Giroud's injury, the Spaniard has earmarked Welbeck as the Gunners' crucial player up front.

"He [Welbeck] played quite well against City. He is going to give a lot to the team. After Giroud injury, he is somehow our biggest hope [for the new campaign]. I hope he settles as soon as possible to provide us many goals," Monreal said.

When asked whether the signing of Welbeck was completely necessary, Monreal added: "We already had important players up-front such as Giroud, Yaya Sanogo, Podolski or even Walcott, when he returns to action.

"But logically Giroud's injury left the striker position a little short and in that sense Welbeck is going to be very handy. Hopefully he adapts to the team as quickly as possible and scores many goals."

Meanwhile, Monreal admits a little bit of disappointment after Martin Demichelis' late goal prevented Arsenal from winning on Saturday.

"It was a nice game for the fans but very tough for the players. It was a very physical game. Both teams had chances to win. We are a little sad because with just seven minutes to go we had the victory in our hands.

"Manchester City have great players and it's hard to play against them. But we proved that we also have a really good team, we tried to dominate the game from the very beginning, trying to secure the victory. I have the feeling that we needed to close the game when we were 2-1 because we were playing at home."

After struggling last season, Monreal has taken advantange of Kieran Gibbs' injury to secure a place in Wenger's starting 11 at the start of the season.

However, the Spaniard has been forced out of the squad that will travel to Germany for the Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund due to injury.