The arrival of Danny Welbeck from Manchester United to Arsenal this summer on transfer deadline day took everyone by surprise, including me.
Arsene Wenger was in the market for a new striker after learning that Olivier Giroud would be sidelined up until the New Year and opted to splash out £16 million for the England international.
His arrival to the club not only surprised the Arsenal faithful, but it also received mixed reactions from them as well.
Before signing for Arsenal, Welbeck made 151 appearances for United but only managed to find the back of the net 30 times in the process.
Louis Van Gaal decided to get rid of the forward because he was not up to the required standards at United, and to be fair, Welbeck’s Unied record doesn’t make for great reading.
But in Welbeck’s defence, he was played out wide more times than he was as a centre-forward, which is what he is – a striker.
Wenger has put his faith in the 23-year-old and played him in his preferred position upfront.
Welbeck has made four Premier League starts so far for us and a further two in the Champions League, where he has scored just the once in the domestic and a hat-trick against Galatasaray last week.
So is he silencing his critics?
More importantly, do you think he has settled into the side well and can be the forward to fire us to trophies this season?
There is no doubt that the guy has bags of energy and is a whippet on and off the ball. But his finishing leaves much to desire, in my opinion.
In the games I’ve seen him play, he does get into some great positions but lacks composure in front of goal, which is worrying – especially for a player who has a wealth of Premier League experience.
One goal in four league starts isn’t bad, but it’s nothing to rave about. I do have faith in the guy to turn his fortune around in time, but he will have to step up his game and find the back of the net more often sooner rather than later or he could be labelled by Arsenal fans as a £16 million flop by the end of the season.
Are you impressed with Welbeck’s start at Arsenal?
Let us know what you think below
