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The former Arsenal and Man Utd star is on course for his best goalscoring season to date
Manchester United icon Gary Neville has claimed that a former Red Devils academy graduate would be the perfect addition to Ruben Amorim’s frontline and claims he can understand entirely why previous boss Erik ten Hag was interested in signing him.
Neville’s former club are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table and are a far cry from the team which dominated English football during the 49-year-old’s playing days. United have managed just 28 league goals so far this season - which is a record only worsened by the likes of Everton and the newly promoted trio that currently occupy the relegation places.
It is now 12 years since the team last lifted a league title but Neville insists one of the younger members of that 12/13 title winning team in Danny Welbeck deserves another chance to lead the line for his boyhood club.
Gary Neville describes Danny Welbeck as perfect for Manchester United
Gary Neville was on punditry duty for Sky Sports on Friday night as he watched Brighton dismantle European contenders Chelsea in style during a 3-0 victory at the Amex Stadium.
Japanese international Kaoru Mitoma lit up the game with a phenomenal touch and precise curled finish to open the scoring before ex-Newcastle man Yankuba Minteh fired in a brace, but it was captain Danny Welbeck that caught the eye of Neville.
The 34-year-old led the line and was a constant threat for the Chelsea defence that struggled to get to grips with his tremendous strength, hold-up play and workrate. Neville said: “He was let go too quickly at United,' Neville said on Sky Sports. If you think about Louis van Gaal, his style of play is very precise, now Danny Welbeck wasn't precise in his game back then, so he (Van Gaal) just let him go. He didn't fancy him at all.
“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 United. For instance, Liverpool have three, four, five forward players across their forward line. They're all of differing abilities and different types.
“Salah's the stand-out one but you might move back to Gakpo and others who aren't quite as good as Salah - they all contribute at a certain point in the season. Divock Origi did it at Liverpool. I've seen Nicolas Jackson talked about at Chelsea last season as not being good enough [but] he is good enough to play at Chelsea, maybe if they had another striker up front to take the weight off his shoulders. He would be one of two very good strikers at the club.”
Mail Sport understands Erik ten Hag was said to have been interested in signing Welbeck last summer as he looked to diversify his attacking options ahead of his third season in charge at the club.
And Neville claims he was right to target a player of Welbeck’s experience and know-how, he added: We always tag these players with, 'Oh, he's not good enough', but he (Welbeck) is, to be part of a 20-man squad at a top club. He can still play at the top level, he's destroying defences. He's torn Colwill and Chalobah to shreds tonight. That front four, he was part of it - a big part of it.”
Danny Welbeck’s season so far
Danny Welbeck is currently in the middle of one of his best goalscoring seasons to date and has six goals and four assists in 19 appearances for Brighton. Joshua Zirkzee and Ramus Hojlund combined in comparison have five goals and one assist in the league between them this term.
Welbeck’s career highest tally since breaking through is nine league goals during David Moyes’ sole season at the club and the same number in Alex Ferguson’s penultimate campaign at Old Trafford.
However, Welbeck is much more than just a goalscoring forward and he is mainly renowned for his ability to hold up the ball, link up with teammates and create chances for those around him. The 34-year-old is under contract at Brighton until June 2026 and is hoping to spearhead the Seagulls team to a European finish this term.
The Red Devils take on Tottenham Hotspur this weekend and both sides have plenty of injury concerns to deal with ahead of the highly-anticipate Premier League encounter.
Related topics:Gary NevilleDanny WelbeckErik ten HagFootballMan United
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