Danny Welbeck and Cristiano Ronaldo
Danny Welbeck has snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo as his best strike partner
Former Manchester United star Danny Welbeck has snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo as the best strike partner he has played with, instead giving that honour to ex-Arsenal team-mate Alexis Sanchez.
Welbeck started his career at Old Trafford as a six-year-old and played five seasons with the first team before joining Arsenal in 2014, which means he has played with some of the best talent in recent Premier League history.
Now 34 and playing with Brighton after racking up 474 career appearances, Welbeck has spoken out about the best forward he has played with.
He started his career playing alongside Ronaldo, albeit briefly in the 2007-08 season, and also played with the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney at United.
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"Actually when I was first in the dressing room and I was in the corner between Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs I was a 17-year-old and that’s who I’m sat between," he told Sky Sports.
"It was just amazing to see. Ronaldo you saw how early he got to the training ground, how late he left. I didn’t play as many games with him but I still got to play with him and train with him for a couple of years and that was so special.
"Berbatov had special qualities and what he could produce was out of this world I think he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves," Welbeck said of the flamboyant Bulgarian. ‘He was quietly confident and knew how good he was."
Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez
Welbeck says he had the best connection with Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal
However, Welbeck said it was Sanchez who he felt the best "connection" with up front after joining Arsenal - and also gave credit to Frenchman Olivier Giroud.
"I’m going to go for Sanchez," Welbeck said when finally asked for his best strike partner. "I played a lot of games with him and I really had a good connection with him. He was one where he could spot runs and find me and come again we just had a really good connection between us.
"Olivier [Giroud] I loved playing alongside him, it worked really well together. Again he’s someone who didn’t quite get the recognition he deserves but he was a top, top class centre forward and good strike partner to play with."
Despite being in his mid-thirties, Welbeck is still producing consistent performances up front for Brighton, netting eight goals in all competitions - including two goals and two assists in his last three games.
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