Gary Neville says Manchester United should “never” have sold a great player who was on fire to Arsenal

Gary Neville says that Manchester United “never” should have sold Danny Welbeck, but Roy Keane, another Old Trafford great, disagrees.

Welbeck played 142 times for the Premier League giants after coming up through the club’s school. He was on Sir Alex Ferguson’s last United team that won the title.

The England player quit in 2014 because he was unhappy with not getting enough playing time and signed with Arsenal for £16 million.

Welbeck didn’t do much at the Emirates Stadium, and Arsenal let him go in 2019 after he scored 32 goals in 126 games for the Gunners.

After another lackluster season at Watford, Welbeck moved to Brighton in 2020 and has had four great seasons there, scoring important goals and showing with his all-around play.

Welbeck is 34 years old next month, but he may be in the best shape of his career. He has scored four goals in seven Premier League games this season.

Manchester United, on the other hand, is having trouble scoring goals, and Neville thinks that his old team made a mistake when they sold Welbeck ten years ago.

Brighton star and former United striker Danny Welbeck (Picture: Getty)

Erik ten Hag’s team has only scored five goals in seven games this season. This terrible run of form put United in 14th place in the Premier League table going into the break.

Keane laughed on Stick to Football with Sky Bet about Welbeck’s great start to the 2024–25 season: “Could he go back to United maybe?”

Neville answered, “By far, he’s in better shape than any United front player.” Daniel Welbeck should never have been fired from United, to be fair.

“Oh, I don’t know about that Gary, we can’t keep saying that about players just because he left,” Keane said about Welbeck’s exit. Keane used to be captain of Manchester United.

Roy Keane questioned Neville’s take (Picture: Getty)

Roy, if you want to keep five or six forwards out of a team of 24 or 23, Neville told him, “He has to be one of them.” You need to keep him.

Before Keane replied, he said, “Just because a player leaves and has a great career doesn’t mean they weren’t good enough for Manchester United.”

Wayne Rooney, who used to play with Welbeck at United, was also on the show and talked about the striker’s skills.

Rooney said, “I think one of his best skills was getting the ball back high up the field.” “He was tough; if you pressed, he’d get the ball back high up the field.”

Welbeck has been in superb form this season (Picture: Getty)

“His touch felt good, and we got along great.” He was smart, quick, fun to play with, and good with the ball.

Earlier in the season, Welbeck helped Brighton beat Manchester United. After the game on the south coast, Rio Ferdinand also said he was shocked that Welbeck had left Old Trafford.

When asked about Danny Welbeck’s background, the Old Trafford great said, “Nothing surprises me about Danny Welbeck.”

“He was a great player when I saw him play for Manchester United as a kid.”

“I couldn’t believe it when United agreed to let him go because I thought he was so valuable, both as a player and as someone who used to play in the academy.”

“Players who have faced him before respect him more than some fans who don’t understand how tough he is to play against.” ‘He’s also a great worker.’

United has lost five times in the Premier League this season, including the loss to Brighton. It is the club’s worst start to a season, and they are now only five points above the drop zone.

When Brentford comes to Old Trafford on Saturday, Manchester United will be eager to get back to winning ways. In the Europa League, the Red Devils will play Fenerbahce, coached by Jose Mourinho.