There seems to be a continued throng of opinion which suggests that Manchester United have made a disastrous move in selling Danny Welbeck to Arsenal.
Time will obviously be the best judge of whether it was a good or bad move. But we simply think there is too much emotion involved from the Manchester United perspective when considering Welbeck.
Yes he’s a Manchester lad who has come up through the ranks but that doesn’t mean he’s good enough to play for Manchester United.
The idea of loyalty in football is dead anyway so there’s no point concerning yourself with this notion that United have been disloyal or that they will suffer through selling a home grown player.
Manchester United have not been good enough over the last few years. They haven’t taken enough of their chances in front of goal and Danny Welbeck has to be partly culpable for that.
In football terms there is absolutely no comparison between Falcao and Welbeck. And, thankfully, LvG is dealing in football rather than emotional terms. How many Arsenal fans would take Welbeck over Falcao? 1%? If that…
The player’s happiness also needs to be considered. With Falcao, Rooney and RVP in the squad would Welbeck be a certain starter? Not even close. The player is not happy to sit on the bench at the age of 23 so it was also the humane thing to do to let him leave.
It’s always sad when a long-term servant of the club leaves but Louis van Gaal has been tasked with putting together a top team. Stopping the rot. He has cut through the emotion of the situation and brought in a better player – simple and straightforward.
Danny will give his all for Arsenal and be a decent player for them but he’s not going to score the winning goal in the European Cup final – for United or Arsenal. He represents a handy squad player in a top squad but not a top player in a top team.
When Manchester United are banging in the goals later on this season let’s see how badly missed Welbeck is then.
LvG was brought in to make tough decisions and he has made the right one here. A happy squad is a healthy squad and, with improvements needed up top, it was time for Danny Welbeck to leave Manchester United.
United fans: let’s have your thoughts.
phil morel
Sep 12, 2014 at 8:14 pm
I cant believe just how much backlash there has been. Wellbeck leaving will not be noticed by United. He, however, will definitely notice the difference as he is now a strategic part of a club’s plans. Does that mean we strengthened Arsenal? Yes it does, but the stronger our Premier League competition is, the better for United and the better for our league. We need to stop selling players abroad and keep them in the Premier League. Lets change this conversation and switch to why Gareth Bale needs to come home.
Jack
Sep 12, 2014 at 8:49 pm
That’s quite a crystal ball you have, to predict the career of a player so precisely when he’s only 23 years old and has rarely been played in his preferred position – a fact likely to change at Arsenal.
Yes, you are correct in your final assertion that United were right to sell him – it’s better for him and they got good money for a player who was going to be limited even more by the arrival of Falcao – and the whole thing about selling to a rival is overblown IMHO. But your certainty in your predictions about Welbeck’s future career is going way too far overboard in an effort to justify a decision which doesn’t really need to be justified (because it made sense for ALL parties).
I presume, by your standards, that Thierry Henry would also have never amounted to more than a “decent squad player” when he first moved to Arsenal?
For the record, he’s about the same age that Henry was when he joined Arsenal from Juve. Henry was a player being played out wide and had scored 23 goals in 121 games (most in France) – compare this to Welbeck, who has 28 in 124 games (most in the PL). Once Henry moved to a more central role, he blossomed. Will Welbeck be another Henry? Almost certainly not – Henry was one of the greats – but it’s also foolish to assume that he won’t see a significant improvement over time (if Wenger abandons his love affair with Sanogo and plays Welbeck more centrally).
Sean W
Sep 12, 2014 at 8:55 pm
Wait and see who scores more goals and has more assists Welbeck or Falcao. Talk is cheap.