{"id":21957,"date":"2026-07-27T15:15:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=21957"},"modified":"2026-07-27T15:15:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:15:32","slug":"danny-welbeck-chelseas-plot-for-ex-man-united-star-explained-man-united-news-and-transfer-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=21957","title":{"rendered":"Danny Welbeck: Chelsea&#8217;s plot for ex-Man United star explained &#8211; Man United News And Transfer News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"penci-post-entry-inner\">\n<p>\t\t\t<i class=\"penci-post-countview-number-check\" style=\"display:none\">1<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Chelsea are exploring a deal to sign former Manchester United star Danny Welbeck, with the experienced forward open to a switch to Stamford Bridge, according to reports.<\/p>\n<h5>Chelsea make their move<\/h5>\n<p>Having left Old Trafford in 2014 to join rivals Arsenal, Welbeck has aged like a fine wine on the south coast since signing for Brighton &#038; Hove Albion in 2020 on a free transfer.<\/p>\n<p>After turning 35 towards the start of last season, the Manchester native is arguably playing the best football of his career, returning 13 goals in the Premier League as the Seagulls qualified for the Europa League for only the second time in their 122-year history.<\/p>\n<p>Welbeck is considered an influential figure in Fabian Hurzeler\u2019s dressing room, with the German tactician two years younger than his No.18. He is a standard setter for his younger teammates \u2013 and this leadership off the pitch is considered as important as his contributions on it.<\/p>\n<p>With Chelsea having struggled with their attitude and discipline under both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior last season, the Blues are moving away from their recruitment model of exclusively targeting youngsters yet to enter their prime.<\/p>\n<p>The failed pursuit to reunite new manager Xabi Alonso with Sunderland\u2019s 33-year-old captain, Granit Xhaka, is a testament to this shift \u2013 as is the surprise pursuit of Welbeck, as revealed by Keiran Gill (Daily Mail).<\/p>\n<p>This has been corroborated by transfer experts Fabrizio Romano and David Ornstein, with the Athletic writer claiming there is \u201coptimism on all sides that a deal could be done.\u201d Romano <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FabrizioRomano\" target=\"_blank\">states<\/a> Alonso has \u201capproved\u201d Welbeck as a target, and negotiations are ongoing.<\/p>\n<h5>Should United hijack the move?<\/h5>\n<p>One interesting part of Ornstein\u2019s report is the reference to Manchester United\u2019s interest in re-signing Welbeck, first in 2024 under Erik ten Hag and then again last summer with Ruben Amorim in charge.<\/p>\n<p>The same attributes which have led Chelsea to make their move \u2013 experience, personality, versatility and a track record of goals in the Premier League \u2013 are exactly what United are crying out for as well.<\/p>\n<p>The \u00a374 million capture of Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig has proven a wise piece of business, given the 6\u20195\u2033 Slovenian juggernaut only turned 23 in May and has so much more potential to develop.<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, the decision to sign Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna for \u00a336.5 million in 2024 has proven one of INEOS\u2019s poorest calls. The 25-year-old is neither clinical nor creative, making him an incapable deputy to Sesko.<\/p>\n<h5>Final Thoughts<\/h5>\n<p>With Welbeck having only signed a one-year contract at the Amex Stadium in March, the fee required to sign him from Brighton will be cheap. He has extensive experience at the elite level of Premier League football, having played for both Manchester United and Arsenal, and would serve as the perfect mentor to Sesko.<\/p>\n<p>If Zirkzee is to depart this summer, it would almost certainly be on loan as the market for the Dutchman is limited to clubs in Serie A. There will not be significant funds to replace him, making a cut-price move to re-sign Welbeck the perfect option. It would also bring an end to his ruthless record when playing his former side.<\/p>\n<p><em>Featured image Jan Kruger via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>The Peoples Person has been one of the world\u2019s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thepeoplesperson.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/affiliate-christmas-campaign-25-1500x300-en-uk-min.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1160\" height=\"65\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-299864\"\/><\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 2 --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 Chelsea are exploring a deal to sign former Manchester United star Danny Welbeck, with&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}