BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 14: Danny Welbeck of Brighton & Hove Albion congratulates Yankuba Minteh of Brighton & Hove Albion he scored their side's third goal during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion FC and Chelsea FC at Amex Stadium on February 14, 2025 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Gary Neville says Danny Welbeck would be ‘actually perfect’ for Manchester United (Getty)
Gary Neville believes Danny Welbeck is ‘actually perfect’ for Manchester United and has branded suggestions that the Brighton striker is not good enough for Ruben Amorim’s side as ‘absolutely rubbish’.
The 33-year-old has been in excellent form for Brighton this season, scoring six goals and registering four assists in the Premier League so far.
On Friday night, Welbeck delivered another impressive performance as Brighton sealed a 3-0 victory over Chelsea.
Welbeck came through United’s academy and made 142 first-team appearances before he was sold to Arsenal for £16 million in 2014.
Neville believes United made a mistake in selling Welbeck and feels the striker would be good enough to help Amorim’s side, who are currently 13th in the Premier League.
‘He was let go too quickly at United because if you think about Louis van Gaal, obviously his style of play is very precise, and Danny wasn’t precise in his game back then. So he just let him go, he just didn’t fancy him at all,’ Neville told Sky Sports.
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Danny Welbeck impressed in Brighton’s 3-0 win over Chelsea on Friday night (Reuters)
‘But he’s actually perfect for how Manchester United should play, threatening space in behind, playing off front players.
‘This idea that he’s not good enough for Manchester United is absolutely rubbish. He’s good enough to be in a pool of three or four strikers at Manchester United.
‘Just like, for instance, Liverpool have three, four, five forward players across that front line. They all have differing abilities, different talents, Salah is the standout one, then you might move back to Gakpo and others who maybe aren’t as good but they all contribute at a certain point in the season, Divock Origi did it at Liverpool.
‘I’ve seen Nicolas Jackson last year being talked about at Chelsea as not being good enough. He is good enough to play at Chelsea, maybe if he had another striker up front to take the weight off his shoulders he would be one of two very good strikers at the club.
‘Sometimes we sort of tag these players with, ‘oh he’s not good enough’ – no, he is, to be part of a 20-man squad at a top club. He [Welbeck] can still play at the very top level.
‘He’s destroying defences, he’s torn Colwill and Chalobah to shreds tonight, that front four, and he was a part of it, a big part of it.’
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