- Manchester United sold Danny Welbeck in September 2014
- Louis Van Gaal’s comments on striker from 2014 outdated quickly
- Reds were interested in re-signing him decade later
When Danny Welbeck was ushered out of Manchester United in 2014, the consensus was that his best days had already been witnessed at Old Trafford. It didn’t take long for the then-23-year-old to prove the doubters wrong.
His £16m move to Arsenal was just the start of a long second act in English football. “Dat Guy” may have been the quintessential Sir Alex Ferguson player, but the striker’s prime didn’t retire with the legendary manager.
In the film Skyfall, there is a scene where M reinstates 007 to active service after his “death” in the opening act. Gareth Mallory questions Bond’s return, stating that intelligence work is a “young man’s game.” Mallory challenges Bond, asking why he didn’t “stay dead” and live out his days quietly. After all, most intelligence officers would kill for that peace. However, Bond’s defiant response of “hire me or fire me, it’s entirely up to you” radiates self-belief in his ability that the people around him failed to see.
This scene is a poetic mirror to Welbeck’s trajectory the moment he was shown the door by Louis van Gaal. Yet, much like Bond, Welbeck refused to “stay dead.” A decade later, he is proving there is plenty of life in the old dog yet. It will always leave United wondering if they traded a lifer for the big names.
Welbeck Was “Let Go Too Quickly”
Danny Welbeck was sold by Louis van Gaal after Radamel Falcao joined on loan from AS Monaco. The arrival of the Colombian superstar meant Welbeck would have been the fourth-choice striker for the 2014/15 season. He would have trailed behind Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, and Falcao in the pecking order.
Reflecting on the move earlier this year on Sky Sports, Manchester United legend and pundit Gary Neville said: “He was let go too quickly at United. If you think about Louis van Gaal, his style of play was very precise, and Danny wasn’t quite that precise in his game back then. So he just let him go; he just didn’t fancy him at all.”
At the time, Van Gaal defended the sale by judging that Welbeck did not meet the standards required at Old Trafford. He stated, “Danny Welbeck had been here since he was nine. But he does not have the record of Rooney or Van Persie, and that is the standard. And we have Falcao.”
Falcao managed a meagre four league goals during his stint in Manchester. While Welbeck matched that tally in the league for Arsenal, he also delivered the ultimate bite months later. He scored the winning goal at Old Trafford to knock United out of the FA Cup that season.
United’s Replacement Search
In the years that followed, the club searched far and wide for a reliable squad striker to fill the void Welbeck left behind. Anthony Martial arrived for a record-breaking fee for a teenager in 2015, but struggled with consistency. Later, the club turned to short-term fixes like Odion Ighalo, Edinson Cavani, and Wout Weghorst to deputise the attack. Yet none sufficed.
Perhaps the closest stylistic profile to the United version of Welbeck is current forward Joshua Zirkzee, albeit less pacier. However, the Dutchman has struggled to fully settle in England since arriving from Bologna.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s former assistant, Rene Meulensteen, once remarked regarding Welbeck’s departure: “You look back through the history of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, and we were always keen on bringing young players through and giving them a chance.” Starting with selling the likes of Welbeck, United lost some of their soul for the years that followed.
The Old Dog Still Fights
Ironically, Manchester United explored bringing Welbeck home under Erik ten Hag in 2024. However, a formal offer never materialised, and Welbeck opted to sign a contract extension with Brighton and never looked back.
After 18 seasons in the Premier League, Welbeck is arguably playing the best football of his career. In 2024/25, he hit double figures in the league for the first time. This campaign, he has already surpassed that with 13 goals so far at the age of 35. His resurgence has sparked debate over whether he should be on the plane to North America for the 2026 World Cup as a veteran third-choice striker.
As United looks to the upcoming summer transfer window, they find themselves in the market for a deputy to Benjamin Sesko. The amount of money the club has spent over the last decade searching for a ‘second striker’ when they already had the answer is an indictment on the previous regime’s wasteful nature.
Of course, hindsight is a luxury. Perhaps Welbeck would never have been content as a career squad player at his boyhood club. Yet, the “old dog” is still fighting. Only last week, he inadvertently aided United’s pursuit of Champions League football by scoring in Brighton’s 3-0 demolition of Chelsea.
As it turns out, ‘Dat Guy Welbz’ is rolling back the years from the south coast in ways that many never imagined.
