Roy Hodgson reveals he urged Arsene Wenger to sign Danny Welbeck from Manchester United

England manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that he persuaded Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to sign Danny Welbeck.

The England international left Manchester United and made a switch to the Emirates in the final hours of the last summer transfer window. The striker was informed by Louis van Gaal that he has no future at Old Trafford, which forced him to leave his former employers.

Welbeck scored the winner for the north London club and knocked United out of the FA Cup on his first return to Old Trafford. The 24-year-old has scored four goals and managed three assists in 24 league appearances for the Gunners this season.

Hogdson is delighted for Welbeck to get regular playing time under Wenger and has urged the Frenchman to motivate the England international in order to step up his performance for Arsenal.

"I speak to him very often. We spoke of course before he signed him [Welbeck] and I was singing Danny's praises, so I'm delighted Arsene has seen that my judgment wasn't wrong and that he shares that judgment," Hodgson explained, as quoted by the Telegraph.

"We [England] like Danny very much. We've always shown faith in Danny."

"Many times he was selected by me when he wasn't actually playing for Manchester United. He's sometimes not even been on the bench and yet still we've selected him because we think he's got the qualities required.

"And what he really needs now is the faith of his manager, which he's obviously got from Arsene, to get more games and then I think we'll see more and more performances from him that we've been lucky enough to see with England," England manager added.

England will take on Lithuania for the Euro2016 qualifier at Wembley on Friday. Welbeck, along with his former teammate Wayne Rooney, are the four strikers selected by Hodgson for the qualifiers and a friendly clash against Italy.

The United and England captain has 46 goals with the national team and Rooney is four goals away from overtaking Old Trafford legend Sir Bobby Charlton to become England's leading goal scorer.