Manchester United have seen many signings struggle to justify their price tags over the years but one former academy ace is starring elsewhere.
Big money has been spent at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s exit but the number of success stories is pretty slim.
Angel Di Maria stands near the top of the list having flopped after his arrival from Real Madrid.
Just look down the list of big-money signings at United; Paul Pogba, Antony, Romelu Lukaku, Jadon Sancho, Casemiro, Mason Mount; have any of those truly hit their very best in United shirts?
Ineos must now figure out just how to stop this trend of spending good money after bad in an effort to really get the club moving forward again.
Gary Neville and Roy Keane on Danny Welbeck
Amid all the money being wasted at United, one former academy ace is now starring in the Premier League some 10 years since leaving Old Trafford.
Danny Welbeck was sold to Arsenal for £16million under Louis van Gaal and continues to shine for Brighton and Hove Albion.
The 33-year-old has hit four goals in seven Premier League games to start the season and opened the scoring against United in August.
Welbeck has never broken six Premier League goals in a season since leaving United, so we can’t go overboard here.
Still, Welbeck is an experienced head in attack and is leading the Brighton attack brilliantly as United struggle for goals.
Speaking on Stick to Football, Roy Keane has now questioned – maybe a little jokingly – whether Welbeck could end up back at United given how Jonny Evans is performing in his second spell at the club.
Gary Neville responded by suggesting that Welbeck should never have been sold in the first place and is more dangerous than United’s current attackers.
Keane wouldn’t go that far but Neville is adamant that Welbeck would have made a real impact for United in the decade since his exit.
Keane feels that Welbeck leaving and playing well for Brighton doesn’t mean United were wrong to let him go, seemingly believing that the move has actually helped Welbeck kick on elsewhere.
“Could he go back to United maybe?” asked Keane.
“He’s in better form than any of the United front players, by far. Danny Welbeck, to be fair, should never have been let go at United,” replied Neville.
Keane: “Oh I don’t know about that Gary, we can’t keep saying that about players just because he left.”
Neville: “Roy, if you’ve got a squad of 24, 23, and you want to keep five or six strikers, he’s got to be one of those. You’ve got to keep him!”
Keane: “Sometimes a player leaves and has a really good career, it doesn’t mean to say they were good enough for Manchester United.”
Wayne Rooney praise for Welbeck
Welbeck’s former United teammate Wayne Rooney was then asked about the Seagulls ace.
Rooney loved what Welbeck offered off the ball, praising his pressing ability and his knack for stealing possession high up the pitch.
Rooney added that Welbeck was ‘bright’ and ‘clever’ at United before they went their separate ways in 2014.
“I think one of his biggest strengths was winning the ball back high up the pitch. He was aggressive, you’d go and press and he’d win it back high up the pitch,” said Rooney.
“His touch was good and we had a real good connection. He was bright, he was clever with the ball, he was good to play with, he was quick,” he added.
We can understand the belief that Welbeck could have offered something as part of the United squad.
The reality is though that Welbeck wanted to play regularly and it wasn’t going to happen under Van Gaal.
The move to Arsenal perhaps didn’t work out as planned but Welbeck, at the time, felt that he had to move on.
It’s easy to say now that Welbeck should have been kept now he is in great form, but there have been some tough times in terms of form and fitness for him over the years.
Adding an experienced head in Welbeck alongside youngsters Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee may not be the worst idea but as far as suggesting that United made a mistake goes, we can’t quite get on board with that and would probably side with Keane rather than Neville.
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