Arsene Wenger acquired his fifth signing of the summer transfer window earlier this week with a transfer deadline day swoop for Danny Welbeck from Manchester United. The new boy arrives at the Emirates on a long-term contract in a deal costing £16 million and not only provides cover for the injured Olivier Giroud, he should also give the Gunners some intriguing attacking options once the Frenchman and Theo Walcott return from injury.
Upon completion of the deal, the 23-year-old took time out to discuss his hopes for the campaign ahead:
“It’s exciting times for me. It’s great to be a part of this team – I’ve always watched them in the Premier League and I’ve envisaged myself playing for them before. For it to finally happen is very exciting. I believe in the style of play the manager’s got and with magnificent players in midfield slotting balls through, I can run on to the end of balls and slot them away. I’d like to bring pace and power to the game. I want to score some goals and help the team to achieve the right results.”
THE HISTORY
Born in Longsight, Manchester, Welbeck joined the Old Trafford youth academy at just eight years of age. A string of impressive performances for the Under 18s, including a goal to help reach the FA Youth Cup Final, were all the more impressive given that he was 16 at the time and suffering from Osgood-Schlatter disease, a prohibitive knee condition.
Welbeck graduated to first-team football midway through the 2007/08 season, making his debut as a starter in a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough in the League Cup Third Round. His Premier League debut in November 2008 produced a memorable 30-yard curler against Stoke in a 5-0 victory and he began to establish a reputation for an industrious approach to the game, accompanied by power, pace and aerial ability.
Despite being handed a four-year contract and displaying flecks of superb talent, the youngster was loaned out to Preston North End and subsequently Sunderland to gain experience. The former deal was cut short due to a recurrence of his knee inflammation but Welbeck came alive at the Black Cats, scoring six goals in 26 matches.
Over the past three seasons, Welbeck has established himself as a regular in the United squad, albeit as a perennial substitute. He has made 90 appearances in total, scoring 20 goals, but was clearly not in new manager Louis Van Gaal’s plans – playing just 46 Premier League minutes over two fixtures under the Dutchman, he was deemed a necessary casualty following the sensational loan deal for Radamel Falcao.
In similar fashion to his club career, Welbeck was ahead of the competition at international level – playing games for the Under 16s two years ahead of his time – but became less impressive as time passed and injuries took their toll. Having accrued 35 youth caps, during which he scored 11 goals, he made his debut for the senior squad in a 1-1 draw against Ghana, the homeland of both his parents, and went on to become a favourite under Roy Hodgson, scoring eight goals in 26 appearances and starting England’s first two World Cup 2014 games against Italy and Uruguay.
THE PROSPECTS
With Olivier Giroud ruled out for three to four months, Wenger clearly needs an authentic frontman to lead the line. The Gunners boss handed Yaya Sanogo the chance at Leicester last weekend but his inability to find the net was no real surprise – it’s now 17 competitive matches without a goal for the youngster, who now looks poised for bench-warming duties.
As we witnessed last year, Giroud was a prime example of Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to rotate strikers – the Frenchman started 36 league matches, with his manager overlooking the likes of Theo Walcott or Lukas Podolski as an alternative in the centre. This looks promising for Welbeck, then – previously hailed for his versatility at United, he can now become accustomed to life as the main man through the middle for his new club.
A comparison between Welbeck and Giroud is also encouraging for Wenger and Fantasy managers alike. In the season gone by, the Englishman displayed significantly superior shot accuracy (41.3% to 33%) and, crucially, chance conversion – netting 19.6% of his efforts found the net compared to Giroud’s 14.3%. Granted, the Frenchman produced more opportunities for his team-mates – eight assists from an average of 85.9 minutes per chance created is up on Welbeck’s single assist from an average of 119.3 minutes per key pass – but it is ultimately goals that will secure the new recruit a permanent place in Arsenal’s starting XI.
As Welbeck alludes to above, his pace could thrive on a midfielder packed with the creativity of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla and, playing on the shoulder of the last defender, may well be the answer to Wenger’s problems up top and subsequently boost the assist potential of his new team-mates.
The new boy also has an extremely tempting price of just 6.9 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game which is sure to see the Fantasy suitors circling. The downside, though, is a tough looking schedule which pits the Gunners against Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea in the next four fixtures – given that many already have Ramsey on board, there’s a reluctance to double up on Arsenal’s attack at this point in time, with many content to monitor for now until the schedules eas-es around Gameweek 8. If Welbeck finds his feet immediately and starts to deliver, though, it’s fair to say that kind price will be quick to escalate and may force us to fast-track the Gunners new frontman into our 15-man squads.
