As Manchester United spent big, bringing in Radamel Falcao, they decided to let Danny Welbeck leave for league rivals Arsenal in a £16m deal. With Arsenal in desperate need for more strikers, has this been a good move by Arsene Wenger?

Well he is a versatile forward and we know Wenger likes players that can play in a few positions. He is also an English international and will have an understanding with Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieron Gibbs already. That should make things easier with settling into life in London.  The fact he is still on;y twenty-three, means he can still learn and improve.

But Danny is also hungry to prove himself as a main striker, through the middle. At Arsenal he’ll get that chance. Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez like to float around off the top and that means that there’s room for a striker. His main rivals for a front central role (Theo Walcott and Oliver Giroud) are both out injured. At Man United, Welbeck often scored more when he was in a central position, problem was he hardly got a chance to play there unless Robin Van Persie or Wayne Rooney suffered from an injury.

The player always runs his socks off and gives his all. His attitude in that regard is unquestionable. But alas as a frontman you are often judged on goals (Just ask Emile Heskey). He certainly needs to improve on his thirty-seven career goals in 178 club appearances.  He isn’t a natural goalscorer but he does seem more prone to instinctive finishes rather than taking his time and thinking about it.

To be honest he has a the tools to do well for Arsenal. The first few months will be extremely important for both the player and the club. They need Welbeck to hit the ground running and be the focal point for all the creative stars that will play in and around him.

Is he a signing that will get you thirty goals a season and clinch you a league title? Probably not. But he can get at least fifteen with this Arsenal team and if he can hold his own until Walcott and Giroud return then he’ll already have proven himself in Wenger’s eyes.

Fending off Spurs for his signature is always looked upon kindly by the ‘Gooners’ support.

A smart signing in my opinion although I still think Arsenal needed a ball winning central midfield marshall and another centre-back. But they have enough to challenge for the title, although more new recruits may be needed in January!

Posted on September 2nd, 2014 by scott
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