Tag: Thomas Tuchel

Dat guy Danny Welbeck “a top player and a top person”

INJURY has undoubtedly caused Danny Welbeck to miss more games of football than he would have wished but the game is full of admirers for the longevity of his career.

As Gabby Logan said on Match of the Day, like a good wine, Welbeck seems to be getting better with age. He has scored more Premier League goals per game in his thirties than he did in his twenties or teens.

His 10 Premier League goals for Brighton last season was his best goalscoring campaign in the top flight and in the autumn of 2025 he has already scored two goals apiece against Newcastle and Chelsea, opponents competing in the Champions League.

“I have the passion and love for football,” he told Match of the Day after scoring the pair against Newcastle. “It’s what I want to do. I feel good. I feel strong and fit so I won’t be stopping soon.”

And as BBC Sport reporter Ciaran Kelly pointed out, Welbeck has the knack of scoring crucial goals for the Seagulls: 11 of his last 12 Premier League goals for Brighton have either put the side ahead (eight) or drawn the game level (three).

Welbeck has now played more matches for Brighton than Manchester United, the club he joined aged eight and where he spent 15 years, rising from the club’s academy, making his way through the junior sides and going on to play 142 first team games (90 starts + 52 as sub) between 2008 and 2014.

The 29 goals he scored along the way played a big part in him earning selection for the England national team for whom he collected 42 caps between 2011 and 2018 having also won 42 caps across the various junior England levels. Welbeck netted 16 times for the full England side.

That there have been calls in certain spheres for United to try to take him back to Old Trafford as he approaches his 35th birthday are a mark of the man and the quality he still exudes.

Striker-turned-pundit Tony Cascarino even urged Thomas Tuchel to recall him for England as back-up for Harry Kane. He told talkSPORT: “Welbeck contributes in various ways beyond scoring. His goal tally isn’t huge, but it’s a decent level and, above all, he is an excellent team player.

“I’ve never seen anyone speak ill of his attitude or professionalism. He is truly an exemplary veteran,”

Cascarino added: “Poland still uses superstars like Robert Lewandowski. If a team needs a veteran, I think there’s absolutely no problem calling Welbeck back,”

Graham Potter was in charge when Welbeck arrived at the Albion in October 2020 on a free transfer, signing a one-year contract.

Welbeck scores for Albion at Old Trafford

Potter moved on but in October 2024 he couldn’t speak highly enough of what the player had brought to the Seagulls, in particular as an influence on others.

“Somebody like Danny is a role model. He can teach you how to act, how to be, how to condition yourself and how to interact with your team-mates at the highest level,” said Potter, speaking on BBC Sounds’ Planet Premier League podcast.

“He is a top player and a top person. Credit to the club – they didn’t just recognise that it is about signing young players, it is also about understanding what older players can do for the environment and for the collective.

“To have someone [in your squad] that has been there and done it, and can just handle it well, I think is priceless as a coach.

“If you see what Danny has had to go through, I think he is also a resilient character. He is a good human being, so he doesn’t get carried away too much with the nonsense of football.”

Potter’s successor Roberto De Zerbi was equally effusive. “Great player, great guy,” said the Italian. Speaking in April 2024, when his own Albion future was in doubt, he said of Welbeck: “We have to keep him for a lot of years. He is playing very well and he is important for the young players, for the dressing room.”

A couple of months earlier in the season, De Zerbi’s assistant, Andrea Maldera, told Andy Naylor of The Athletic: “Danny is one of the best teachers on the pitch.

“He is always positive and he is not only a teacher on the pitch. He can speak with a young player when he is eating with them or when he is on the bus.

“He always gives a lot of advice to everybody. He is a big teacher, he has the soul of a teacher. I don’t know what he wants to do in the future in his life, but he is always very clear-minded. On the pitch, it is the same. He doesn’t speak a lot, but he’ll go close to the players, sometimes work a little with them on the training ground.”

Welbeck himself appreciated the influences of more experienced players in his own early days and told BBC Sport’s Simon Stone: “At Manchester United there were lots of players to guide me and give me advice. It meant a lot back then hearing that sort of stuff, listening to people who had been through certain situations and different experiences, who have a lot of knowledge in the game.

“I am always happy to help with the other players. It is pretty easy for them to come and talk to me. It’s nice to pass on a bit of knowledge and experience.”

Born in the Longsight suburb of Manchester on 26 November 1990, Welbeck’s first games of football were played with his older brothers Wayne and Chris when he was just four or five.

Wes Brown, who was already on United’s books, and his brothers lived nearby and the young Welbeck was inspired to follow in Brown’s footsteps.

He actually had a trial for City when he was eight but they didn’t have an age group side for him. It was while he was playing for local side Fletcher Moss Rangers that United seized the opportunity to offer him a two-week trial, and he didn’t look back.

After progressing though the academy schoolboy squads, he made his debut for the youth team in December 2006, debuted for the reserves the following October and was United Young Player of the Year for the 2007-08 season, going on to sign as a professional in July 2008.

On the ball for United

Three months later, Sir Alex Ferguson gave him his first team debut, starting up front alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at home to Middlesbrough in the third round of the League Cup, when United won 3-1.

In November, he went on as a substitute to make his Premier League debut and scored United’s fourth goal in a 5-0 thumping of Stoke City, unleashing a swerving shot from 30 yards.

Welbeck was winning his first significant medal before that season was over after he had started for United in the League Cup final, when they beat Tottenham on penalties at Wembley (although Welbeck had been subbed off 10 minutes into the second half, the BBC match report noting “youngster Welbeck was having a tough time making an impact in the face of the physical presence of Dawson and King”).

He scored twice in eight matches on loan to Preston North End in 2010 and then spent the 2010-11 season on loan to Sunderland, scoring six in 28 matches (23 starts plus five as sub) for ex-United skipper Steve Bruce’s Premier League side.

“He has always had ability but made slow progress because he had a bit of a knee growth problem, so we knew we had to wait for him,” said Ferguson in August 2011. “We put him on loan to Sunderland last season and that is when he became a man. He has grown up.”

Dat Guy (Mancunian slang for The Man), the nickname given to him by former United teammate Ravel Morrison, was part of the 2012-13 Premier League title-winning squad (23 starts plus 17 as sub) which turned out to be Ferguson’s last in the hotseat.

He scored 10 in 24 starts plus 12 as sub under David Moyes, but Dutchman Louis van Gaal preferred to bring in Colombian striker Radamel Falcao and, after only three games at the start of the 2014-15 season, Welbeck was sold to Arsenal for £16m (Ferguson putting in a good word with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger).

Plenty of iconic United names, such as Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Bryan Robson, voiced their disapproval of the decision and former coach Rene Meulensteen was adamant Ferguson wouldn’t have sold him if he’d still been in charge.

Meulensteen told talkSPORT: “We were always keen on bringing young players through and giving them a chance. I had him from when he was 8, 9 years of age and I think the best of Danny is yet to come.

“He is a very versatile player and I’m 100 per cent sure he will do very, very well for Arsenal. Danny is a perfect match for Arsenal. He is such a versatile player.

“He is very good in short, creative, combination play, showing for the ball, passing and moving, picking up different positions. At the same time, he has the pace and power to break away if they break from their own half.”

Robson said: “He came through the ranks, he has a great attitude, he’s a great lad.” And Wayne Rooney told The Mirror: “Danny’s great to play alongside. If I’m completely honest, I’d probably like to still see him here, playing for Manchester United.”

Saying United let him go too quickly, Gary Neville added: “He’s actually perfect for how Manchester United should play. Threatening space in behind, playing off front players. This idea that he’s not good enough for Manchester United is absolutely rubbish.”

In a January 2025 interview with the Manchester Evening News, Welbeck remembered: “At the time I was playing on the left-wing a lot and in a 4-4-2, which is very difficult for me because I can’t make an impact on the game.

“I can play it to the best of my ability but that’s not best for the team, and I could make a bigger impact playing in my preferred position.

Welbeck and Ashley Young at United

“You start to have thoughts but at that time you’re still going to training and I was still giving 100 per cent and giving my all in every single game – that’s just me, I’m not going to change that. But you do start to think about what’s best for you.”

Apart from anything else, Welbeck was an established member of the England set-up by then.

He had been on loan at Sunderland when he was first called up to the England senior squad (following the withdrawal of Aaron Lennon) only days after scoring for England Under-21s in a win over Denmark.

Ironically, the opponents at Wembley on 29 March 2011 were Ghana – the country his parents came from – and Fabio Capello sent him on in the 81st minute as a sub for Ashley Young. The game ended 1-1.

He ultimately featured under four different England managers (albeit Stuart Pearce only managed one game) with the majority (29) under Roy Hodgson. His final England game was as a sub for Trent Alexander-Arnold at the 2018 World Cup in a 1-0 defeat to Belgium.

When Welbeck suffered a badly broken night ankle in a Europa League match for Arsenal in November 2018, and was forced to withdraw from the England squad, Gareth Southgate revealed how the squad showed their strong bond with him by placing his photo on a TV they were watching ahead of a Nations League match.

And after he’d left Arsenal in the summer of 2019, but was still recovering from the ankle injury, the FA helped his comeback by allowing him to use all of the facilities he needed at the St George’s Park national centre.

Welbeck nets in the FA Cup against Newcastle

Another illustration of the enduring relationships Welbeck has built during his career came after he’d scored an extra-time winner for Brighton at St James’ Park in March 2025 to book an FA Cup quarter-final against Nottingham Forest.

Ferguson phoned the player after the game, and Welbeck told BBC Football Focus: “He talked about the goal and the performance. He was buzzing and to have that sort of connection, he is a manager who is always looking out for his players, always wants the best for them, and still to this day is in contact.”

At Arsenal, Welbeck played under another great manager and he told the programme: “Sir Alex Ferguson got success in his own way, Arsene Wenger had success in his way. There’s different ways to reach success. Those two managers played a huge part in my life, not just my career.”

• More about Welbeck’s time at Arsenal in my next blog post.

High hopes have followed Billy Gilmour on his football journey

NAPOLI might well be riding high in Serie A but it’s mainly a watching brief for midfielder Billy Gilmour who moved to the Italian club from Brighton in August 2024.

The former Chelsea midfielder has found game-time harder to come by than fellow countryman Scott McTominay, who has shone in midfield as Antonio Conte’s side have been involved in an intriguing Italian title race with Atalanta and Inter Milan.

Most of Gilmour’s involvement has been from the bench apart from during October and November 2024 when he started five consecutive league matches. Stanislas Lobotka has more often been Conte’s pick for the no 6 role.

Nonetheless Conte said: “I’m happy that we have him here, he is a great player. He is an important option for us.”

While some Brighton supporters lamented Gilmour’s departure, it could be seen as a shrewd piece of business considering the Seagulls received a reported fee of £12m plus £4m in add-ons, turning a profit on the £9m paid to Chelsea two years earlier.

Veteran Albion watcher Andy Naylor reckoned Gilmour was a key player, citing Opta stats highlighting Gilmour’s 92.15 per cent passing accuracy in 2023-24 to back up his view. “He helps to control games and dictate the tempo with slick and reliable passing,” he wrote for The Athletic.

Indeed, after Gilmour had once again earned plaudits playing for his country at the 2024 Euros tournament, Naylor declared that the player “is going to become increasingly important to Brighton” even going so far as to say: “The midfielder is the future for his club under new head coach Fabian Hurzeler.” As it happened, that couldn’t have been more wrong.

The arrival of two £25m signings in Dutch international Mats Wieffer from Feyenoord and Danish international Matt O’Riley from Celtic, together with the emerging influence of young Carlos Baleba must have sounded a warning signal to the Scot. And a central midfield starting berth for veteran James Milner meant Hurzeler had something quite different in mind. Not to mention other midfield options of Jack Hinshelwood and Yasin Ayari.

Although Gilmour went on as a sub in the opening day 3-0 win at Everton and started alongside Milner in the 2-1 home win over Manchester United, the growing rumours of his imminent departure to Italy proved true as former Chelsea manager Conte signed him along with McTominay from Manchester United.

Gilmour admitted in an interview with AreaNapoli: “Scott arrived here before me, and we were texting each other, in the days when I was also hoping to move to Naples.

“When Scott told me he was on the plane to come here, all that was left to do was close my transfer. The day I arrived in Naples was something incredible. I got off the plane, ran to do the medical and then went to the stadium.”

Gilmour and McTominay together at Napoli

Gilmour added: “My dream as a footballer is to reach the highest levels and win trophies here in Naples. That’s what I will try to do.”

Apart from starting one cup match, and the autumn run referred to earlier, Gilmour’s had to reprise the situation he found himself in at Brighton when he first arrived – he only made six starts plus seven appearances off the bench as Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Pascal Gross lorded it in midfield.

Gilmour heard only good things about Brighton from former Chelsea teammate Tariq Lamptey before making the move south, and on arrival there was also a familiar face behind the scenes in David Weir, who he’d known from his days at Glasgow Rangers.

After that low key start to life with the Seagulls, in April 2023 Roberto De Zerbi decided to rest key players for the home game with Wolves and give Gilmour and striker Deniz Undav starts. Albion won 6-0 and the manager confessed afterwards: “Gilmour, I think, was the best player on the pitch and I must admit possibly in the past I made some mistakes with him and with Undav because I didn’t give them many possibilities to play.

“But for me it’s difficult. To play without Mac Allister, Mitoma, Solly March, Moises Caicedo, it’s difficult.”

Once Mac Allister and Caicedo had flown the Seagulls nest, De Zerbi showed his faith in Gilmour, giving him 32 starts and nine appearances off the bench as Albion competed in the Europa League for the first time.

“Billy is a unique player,” reckoned De Zerbi. “We have only one playmaker in our squad and he is Billy Gilmour.”

Gilmour in action for the Albion v Arsenal

In early December 2023, he was full of praise for the young Scot, telling the media: “The improvement of Gilmour is incredible. I completely love him, because now he is playing very much like a leader on the pitch.

“Big quality, big attitude, big player. He is improving in the quality of the pass, in the personality, how he can drive and control the game, drive the team. To understand the play before he receives the ball.

“He understood when he has to play a long ball and a short pass because the defensive space starts from how long is the pass. In his reaction, when we lose the ball. I am very pleased for his performances.”

Born on 11 June 2001 in Irvine, Ayrshire, Gilmour grew up in the county’s coastal town of Ardrossan where he went to Stanley Primary School. He moved on to Grange Academy in Kilmarnock which was part of the Scottish FA performance school programme.

When he and fellow graduate Nathan Patterson made it into the full international squad, programme director Malky Mackay told The Scotsman: “Billy is someone I’ve been impatient about for a number of years now. We took him to the Toulon tournament with Scotland under-21s when he was 17 because I had a firm belief this kid is something special.

“He ended up playing, becoming the breakthrough player at a tournament of that esteem, scoring a goal and captaining the team. It was only a matter of time but it’s terrific he and Nathan have been picked for the squad. That makes me more happy than you could ever know.”

At a young age, Gilmour spent three months at Celtic (his dad supported the Hoops) but switched to Rangers (who his mum supported) because it was easier to get to training.

He progressed through the youth ranks and was still only 15 when he was called up to train with the first team squad during Mark Warburton’s reign as manager.

“I came on the scene at a young age and there was a lot of talk, a lot of people putting my name out there, but you have to learn to live with that – and the best way is by playing well and keeping your consistency,” Gilmour told the Albion matchday programme.

It was a disappointing snub by Rangers caretaker manager Graeme Murty that led to his £500,000 departure from Glasgow to London, as recounted by sports writer Ewan Paton in rangersreview.co.uk.

Gilmour was due to become Rangers’ youngest-ever player at 15 years old in a Scottish Cup tie against Hamilton in March 2017; Murty indicating the teenager would be on the bench and would get the chance to fulfil his lifelong dream of playing for Rangers.

But, just hours before kick-off, Murty changed his mind, with Gilmour being left out of the matchday squad.

“I felt like I was going to be on the bench and maybe even come on that game. It works in its weird ways, so it does, football,” said Gilmour.

Two months later, when he was eligible to turn professional aged 16, the incident was in the back of his mind and he opted to move to Chelsea.

“Of course, I would’ve loved to have played for Rangers,” he said. “But I ended up moving on and maybe it’s a wee part of my journey that made the decision a bit easier.”

Remarkably, Gilmour scored in each of his first three games for Chelsea’s under 18 side and he signed a professional contract aged 17 in July 2018.

A year later, it was newly-appointed manager Frank Lampard who gave him his senior debut in a pre-season friendly. His league debut was as a late substitute for Tammy Abraham against Sheffield United and his first start was shortly afterwards in a 7-1 EFL Cup thrashing of Grimsby Town, a game in which Reece James made his debut.

Lampard said afterwards: “I thought Billy Gilmour ran the game from midfield, and Marc Guehi was solid. They’ve been outstanding this year.”

After making 11 league and cup appearances for Chelsea in each of 2019-20 and 2020-21, Gilmour went on a season-long loan to Norwich City where, although he got more games (23 starts, five off the bench), he didn’t enjoy the experience and wasn’t a permanent fixture in the struggling Canaries side that eventually ended up being relegated.

Gilmour didn’t enjoy his time at Norwich

“Things had been going so well and then I went on loan to Norwich which I thought would be good for me,” Gilmour told Men’s Health. “It turned out to be a fight, a battle. I learned a lot.”

He continued: “I was just a young kid and it was a low time for me.

“I learned how strong I was. I put a smile on my face, even though I was hurting, especially when I was living on my own in Norwich. Some nights, I’d be sitting there thinking, ‘This is c**p’, but that’s where my family helped me. You can only learn from that.”

Gilmour, when aged just 20, was named man of the match in his first full start for Scotland as they held England to a 0-0 draw at Wembley in a Euro 2020 match (played in June 2021 because of Covid).

“The ease with which he has transitioned into international football implies that he possesses some very special skills,” reckoned Ewan Murray, writing in The Guardian.

“It was his big moment and he didn’t let us down,” said Scotland manager Steve Clarke. “Nobody is surprised by that. Not in our camp.”

But a word that has hung heavy around Gilmour’s neck is expectation. When the permanent move to Brighton came about, Tuchel admitted that Chelsea hadn’t wanted to let him go and would rather he had only left on loan.

He told reporters: “We had high hopes [for him] and he played for us in the first half a year when I was at Chelsea. He played some important matches for us and looked for a new challenge that did not go so well for him with Norwich.

“We expected more, he expected more so it was like, without pointing a finger, but it is difficult also for him and for us to not succeed, to not play at Norwich, to be relegated and then suddenly be a central midfielder for Chelsea and competing for top four and for every title.

“There’s a huge step in between so we were looking. The ideal solution would have been maybe that he goes again on loan as the concurrence is huge for us in central midfield and we felt like he is not the age where he can live again with five or six or seven matches during a whole season to fulfill his own potential so, ideally, it would have been another loan.

“Billy did not want to go on loan, it was a no-go for him so in the end, we agreed to a sale.”

Gilmour’s version of events differed a little, as he revealed in an interview with talkSPORT in September 2023, saying that after his season-long loan at Norwich, he was told he wasn’t part of the first-team plans at Chelsea and would have to be content with playing in the reserves.

That was despite Chelsea exercising an option to extend his contract to the end of the 2023-24 season earlier that summer.

“When I came back from my loan from Norwich, I came back and had pre-season and I just wasn’t in the plans,” Gilmour told talkSPORT host Jim White. “At that point I was thinking, well, I want to be at a club that really appreciates me and I want to be part of the team.

“I want to play first-team football. I’ve had a taste for it. I’ve played for my country, so I want to try and push on now. For me, it was the right time to leave. I spoke with the manager at the time, and he thought the same.

“I want to play football, I want to really settle down and try and find a house and home and be here and give my all.”

It remains to be seen where the young Scot’s career goes next but even though his playing time in Italy hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, the midfielder told broadcaster DAZN: “I am fit and well, I’m enjoying it.  Of course, we are doing well as a team, so we want to keep building on that.”