Police believe they have identified a Twitter user who posted a sickening tweet racially abusing Arsenal goal hero Danny Welbeck.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) launched a probe into a message posted after the former Manchester United striker returned to Old Trafford and scored the winner in the Gunners' 2-1 FA Cup Quarter Final victory on Monday night.

The vile, racist rant, tweeted by user @angeIsleftfoot, read: 'Welbeck is dead to me, the f****** c***…’

Danny Welbeck celebrates after scoring against his former club Manchester United on Monday

Welbeck netted the winning goal as Arsenal progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 victory

Louis van Gaal decided to sell Welbeck after deeming him surplus to requirements at Old Trafford

IT'S NOT ALL HATE ON THE WEB CHECK OUT the best Internet memes and responses to Welbeck's winner at Old Trafford Advertisement

The tweet continued with sickening references that are deemed too offensive to publish here.

Sportsmail understands officers in Manchester with specialist training in social media identified the user and passed on the information to Wiltshire Police, who confirmed they have now picked up the case.

The account was no longer active on Wednesday.

Welbeck was jeered by a minority of United fans after being replaced by Olivier Giroud late in the game

The 24-year-old shakes hands with former team-mate Wayne Rooney (left) after the game

Welbeck spent six seasons at United after coming through the club's youth system

A complaint was made by another Twitter user and officers will now decide whether the tweet constitutes a hate crime.

The vitriolic slur was one of a number of disturbing messages posted in the aftermath of Welbeck's triumphant return to United

Some stated that they hoped the 24-year-old, who is from Manchester, would die while one user threatened to kill him.

Welbeck was shown the door by United boss Louis van Gaal last year, who claimed he was not good enough.

£60m man Angel di Maria (2nd right) was sent off for laying his hands on referee Michael Oliver (2nd left)

He seized upon a poor backpass to give Arsenal a lead they would not relinquish and then celebrated in front of the 9,000 visiting supporters - an action which was welcomed by many pundits.

Despite isolated boos, Welbeck was applauded from the field by the majority of United fans when he was substituted in the 74th minute.