Danny Welbeck has proven himself worth a new Brighton contract
When Brighton signed Danny Welbeck in October, more than a few eyebrows were raised across the Premier League but for those who knew a little about the deal, it looked a good fit for all parties.
The Albion picked up a proven Premier League performer on a performance-incentivised one-year deal. It was risk free in a way; if Welbeck avoided injury, Brighton would have a striker better than any other on their books. And if he didn’t, they could simply cut ties seven months later at the end of June.
Day Guy meanwhile got a year at another top flight club to the prove his fitness. If he could, then there was every chance Brighton would extend his stay. If things went spectacularly well, then a bigger club than the Albion might even take a punt on him for 2021-22.
So with nine games of the season left to play, we are reaching decision time. Has Welbeck done enough to show that he is worth a new contract at the Amex?
Fitness wise, Welbeck has missed six matches through injury since his arrival at the Albion. Given his reputation as a sicknote, nine starts and seven substitute appearances is probably more than enough football to have justified Brighton signing him in the summer.
If he features in five of Brighton’s final nine fixtures, then he will have played more matches in 2020-21 than he has in any season since 2017-18, a campaign which ended with him going to the World Cup with England.
Some Brighton fans may be quick to question the medical department because of long-term injuries to Tariq Lamptey and Adam Webster, but the work they have done in nursing both Danny Welbeck and Adam Lallana back to becoming regulars deserves a lot of credit.
In terms of quality, Welbeck has shown that he possesses much of the talents which have seen him win an impressive collection of trophies with Manchester United and Arsenal, popping up with some vital interventions over the course of the campaign.
His 84th minute equaliser against 10-man Sheffield United saved Brighton from the considerable embarrassment of becoming the first opponents to lose to the Blades in the Premier League this season.
He won the penalty which gave Pascal Gross the chance to equalise in the 1-1 home draw with Liverpool and his perfect layoff sliced open the Southampton defence to create Leandro Trossard’s winner at St Mary’s.
Two of Welbeck’s three goals have been of a class that few of his teammates can match, as we know only too well having seen some astonishing misses this season.
The dink over Emiliano Martinez which opened the scoring in the win at Aston Villa was a cool and clinical finish and his goal against Newcastle cutting in from the left wing and beating Martin Dubravka from outside the box was a spectacular strike from a player with the confidence to let one go from range.
Most Brighton fans are sick to their back teeth of xG, but Welbeck even brings some cheery news in the expected goals department. His three goals in Brighton colours come from an xG of 4.53. Those numbers prove that if you give Dat Guy opportunities, he will take them more often than not. That is a rarity among Albion forwards.
Neal Maupay has a stunning back catalogue of comedic misses and Aaron Connolly has been more effective breaking Covid-19 lockdowns to score in the bedroom during lockdown than he has putting the ball in the back of the net.
Then there is Welbeck’s experience. Brighton have one of the youngest squads in the Premier League and that has shown at times through naivety, especially in the number of goals conceded in the final 10 minutes of halves of football.
Like Lallana, Welbeck has been there, done it and bought the tee shirt. His international record of 16 goals in 42 England appearances speaks for itself, he has been to three major tournaments with the Three Lions, worked under Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and his list of honours reads one Premier League title, two League Cups and one FA Cup.
He offers Graham Potter leadership and nous that Brighton need, especially with the club’s continued policy of signing young players with potential. What Welbeck and Lallana can teach those sorts of individuals about life in the Premier League is invaluable.
It is fairly clear that the Albion are one clinical striker away from being a very, very good team. Potter has a lot of forward options, but none of them look like solving the conundrum of actually putting the ball in the back of the net.
If Tony Bloom does make a big-money signing in the striker department, then the new arrival would become Brighton’s number one striker. Maupay’s work rate and intelligence have signalled so far this season that he would be much more effective as a second striker rather than the man the Albion rely on to score all their goals.
Keeping Welbeck for 2021-22 would give Brighton a quality third choice centre forward, as he has proven this season. It would also allow Connolly to go on loan to a Championship club, a move which might help him improve his attitude, his discipline and rediscover the art of scoring which would be a big boost to his confidence.
Andi Zeqiri too could head out for six months of first team football elsewhere to build on the impressive cameos we have seen from him so far in his fledgling Brighton career.
Danny Welbeck has proven with his contribution this season that Brighton have little to lose by offering him another year and much to gain, even if he only features in 60 percent of the club’s Premier League games again. Dat Guy has done enough to earn a new contract.
