Former club defender insists a great character who came through the academy should never have been pushed out
Rio Ferdinand has criticised Manchester United’s decision to sell Danny Welbeck to Arsenal in 2014.
The former Red Devil called the move “an absolute balls-up” and insisted the club should never have allowed the academy graduate to leave Old Trafford.
Welbeck has been performing at a high level for Brighton in the past two seasons but is a Manchester-born striker who joined United’s youth system at the age of eight.
He was sold to Arsenal for around £16m during Louis van Gaal’s first transfer window in charge.
The Dutchman had been appointed manager that summer, a year after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, and reshaped the squad by bringing in players like Radamel Falcao while offloading several others, including Welbeck.
At the time, Van Gaal defended the decision by pointing to Welbeck’s scoring record compared to his rivals for a starting spot.
“He played three seasons for the first team, but he doesn’t have the record of Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney, and that is the standard,” Van Gaal said in 2014.
“That is why we let him go, because of Falcao, but also to allow the youngsters to fit in. That is the policy. That is why I am here.”
“I think he should’ve stayed at Man United,” said Ferdinand. “Sometimes it’s not the manager’s decision.
“I think it was an absolute balls-up that they actually let him leave the football club. A Manchester boy, loves the club, a great kid, never a day’s trouble for anybody at the football club, never gets into trouble, his nose is always clean, got a nice way about him, great family, what are you selling him for?”
The former defender added that the club’s leadership should have intervened to block the sale.
“If the manager had come in and said, ‘you can go,’ you say, ‘no, no, this one is out of your hands, mate. This ain’t for you. You don’t know the detail behind this one. Leave this to us,’ and he’s staying with us.
“That’s what should have happened with Danny Welbeck. He’s a class act on and off the pitch, a great guy.”
