Arsene Wenger has said that Francis Coquelin is ready to return to the Arsenal first-team, while Danny Welbeck is ready to begin playing matches for Arsenal's Under-21 side as he steps up his return from injury.
In quotes on the club's website, Wenger claimed that Coquelin will be available for his first match in over two months on Saturday afternoon against Burnley, but the length of Welbeck's layoff has left him with a lot of work to do to return to match fitness.
The former Manchester United striker hasn't played for over nine months, since April 2015, and Wenger said: “It has to be gradual; he has to go through an under-21 game first,” the manager said. “Danny has not played since April 2015 and we are now in February basically, so that is very long for a top-level competitor.
“You have to accept that he goes through small steps and one of them is to play in the under-21s, first for 45 minutes. He is basically fit but now it is to absorb the competition and the intensity of the competition. That is the next step for him.”
The Gunners boss also talked about Coquelin's potential return on Saturday, as well as the chance that Mohamed Elneny will get a start. “I will make some changes, not many,” he said. “We spoke about Elneny, maybe I will give him a chance to play. Coquelin I have to think about. I will play with a team that is a Premier League team.
“Coquelin gives us defensive stability in midfield so he will compete with the players we have in this area. Before he was injured he had a very good spell in the team and the results were good, including his defensive records. He is now in a position where he can compete again for his position.
“It is a possibility [that Elneny will start]. He is naturally a box-to-box player who is a bit more defensive-minded than your usual box-to-box midfielder, so he can play in several positions in front of the defence or go box to box. He has good technique, good vision, he is very mobile and agile.”