Danny Welbeck has backed himself to compete with Arsenal’s big-money signings and fill the void left by Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s injury.
The England international scored a brace as the Gunners beat struggling Southampton 3-2 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Welbeck was praised by manager Arsene Wenger for overcoming the mountain that lay ahead of him as he recovered from two serious knee injuries.
Now the 27-year-old faces a different kind of battle as he looks to keep his place in the side despite the recent club-record acquisitions of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Welbeck is no stranger to battling it out with superstars, having also played alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Robin van Persie during his time at Manchester United.
Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud have all been in the mix with Walcott at Arsenal before departing in January – with Aubameyang and Lacazette now Welbeck’s main rivals for a starting berth.
“As you’ve seen, I can play with Pierre and with Laca,” he said.
“It is nice. It gives you that added motivation. The competition is there so you are going to improve and better yourself.
“I’ve had that throughout my whole career. Being at an academy where players come from all over the world and it is the same here, you are always going to have that competition. It is healthy.
“I know I can link up with plenty of the players in this team.”
Welbeck’s path to a regular first-team place could now come through the misfortune of Mkhitaryan, who Wenger admits is likely to miss the remainder of April after suffering knee ligament damage in last week’s Europa League win over CSKA Moscow.
“We don’t know how bad Henrikh’s injury is at the moment,” he said.
“We all wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully he is available as soon as possible, but it is the manager’s decision who he wants in the team.
“Obviously, with the goals today I’ve staked my claim. Going into the game on Thursday, we want to get the win and get into the next round.”