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Danny Welbeck will return to Manchester United with Brighton this Saturday with the forward in stunning form. Welbeck had scored 29 goals for United in 142 appearances whenhe was sold to Arsenal, aged 23, for £16million.

The striker went on to score 32 goals in 126 appearances for the Gunners before leaving in 2019. A middling one-season spell at Watford followed and it seemed as if United had made the right choice in letting the Manchester-born star leave Old Trafford.

However, the 34-year-old has gone from strength to strength at Brighton since joining the Seagulls in 2020. Welbeck has scored four goals already this season, and 41 in total. He has also found himself possibly back in contention for England for next summer's World Cup.

Welbeck once revealed thathe harboured doubts over his United future while David Moyes was in charge of the club, a whole year before he eventually departed.

Moyes only lasted ten months at Old Trafford. However the next United manager, Louis Van Gaal, made it clear Welbeck could leave. The forward later claimed he no longer wanted to operate on the flank, as he had been at United, insisting the position was not conducive to him playing his best football.

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"When you’ve been somewhere for so long and then you’re going to start a new chapter in your career, you’ve got to think about it a lot," Welbeck said in 2014.

"Over the past year or so, I started to think about what’s best for me. 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."

He continued: "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."

Welbeck has reinvigorated his career on the South Coast. Last season was his best goalscoring Premier League campaign as he reached ten goals in 30 top flight appearances.

On Saturday, Welbeck managed to generate headlines once again as he scored twice in a 2-1 win over Newcastle at the Amex Stadium.

Since joining Brighton, Welbeck has managed three goals against United, including last season when the Seagulls won 2-1 at the Amex. Speaking on returning to Old Trafford, the boyhood United fan says he still gets a thrill returning to Manchester.

“Yeah, I love it. I’m a Manchester boy, I’m a fan at heart. So it’s just like, it’s just home for me and like my friends and family are all there,” Welbeck said. “Obviously, the first time I went back, it was very strange, I would say, because obviously growing up at Manchester United, it was all that I knew.

“So to even like go back and warm up on the other side of the pitch or go into a different dressing room, it’s so strange. But I’ve done it numerous times now, and it’s just like any other game really.”

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