da bwin： Through Danny Welbeck’s career he has always been on the cusp of being a starting man, but never much more than a fringe member of any squad and Louis van Gaal eventually moved the England international on last summer, after years of promise at Old Trafford that never came to fruition. Since a loan spell to Sunderland, Welbeck has been struggling to become a star at either Manchester United or Arsenal.
da brwin： The change of regime at Old Trafford has seen a raft of new faces come in to join some pretty good older ones, and it just emphasises how far away Welbeck is from that class. Wayne Rooney, Angel Di Maria, Memphis Depay and Juan Mata are a different class of player to the ex-United man and, although he could do a job as a squad player, it leaves his entire career looking a bit overstated to date.
Now at Arsenal, Welbeck similarly looks like a player who is detached from the high quality we see from Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey. Welbeck’s work-rate compensates for his lack of technical prowess, but he looks nothing more than a gap filler when the star names need rest or are unavailable.
Of course, this is not a terrible way to make a living as there have been many perfectly good players who have built a career for themselves out of their versatility and willingness. Unfortunately at Welbeck’s age, rarely starting games does very little for a player’s development. At Arsenal, the addition of Welbeck was seen as shrewd at first, but now it looks like they settled for a second-best prize when they should have been looking to bring in greater quality.
Additional depth to the squad is always beneficial, but the addition of Welbeck has put another obstacle in front of younger players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Serge Gnabry, who need minutes. Oxlade-Chamberlain is one of the most promising players in Europe and Welbeck’s arrival seems to be a short-term solution to a problem that Chamberlain is the long-term answer for. Welbeck can play as a striker, but both Sanchez and Theo Walcott are equally adept in the role, and if Arsenal needed another ‘No.9’ that badly they should have invested in a specialist.
Goals are the saving grace of Welbeck’s game and this, along with his versatility, are keeping his top level career alive. Oxlade-Chamberlain undoubtedly has a higher ceiling than Welbeck and any time that Welbeck prevents minutes going to the ex-Saints a negative impact is made.
Arsenal’s squad is based on a lot of players capable of playing multiple roles, but when aiming to challenge in the Champions League, better depth is needed than Welbeck. He is a useful asset, but Arsenal are at risk of failing to add other players because of his signing.
Welbeck should be starting as the striker at a top 10 side, for both the good of his career and Arsenal. The Gunners could easily move him on for a reasonable fee and reinvest that money in a striker of elite standing who will challenge Olivier Giroud for his place in the side. As useful as Welbeck is, Van Gaal was right to sell him and his England record has given false hope to many for his future career.
Danny Welbeck is unlikely to improve much beyond his current level and it would not be a surprise if he forced a move away from Arsenal in hope of more game time within the next couple of years. In a summer when Loic Remy was available, who is certainly capable of playing at a top side, deciding to move for Welbeck was as risky as it was questionable for Arsenal.