He may be England's new talisman but can Welbeck ever be *that guy* for Arsenal?

The 23-year-old's recent platitudes disguise wayward finishing and a style mismatch that could prevent him enjoying the same cult-like status he garnered at Manchester United

ANALYSIS
By Remmy Boniface

When Roy Hodgson's resurgent England venture into the fiery den of Celtic Park on Tuesday night, they do so with a player enjoying a fresh lease of life for club and country. From utility man to main man, Danny Welbeck is now enjoying the starring role that had eluded him for so long and takes on Scotland as the joint top scorer in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Strange, then, that just a few months ago he was being pushed towards the exit door by Manchester United, replaced instead by the injury-prone, exorbitantly paid Radamel Falcao, who has yet to complete 90 minutes this season and rounds off a trio of ageing, increasingly inconsistent senior United forwards who have misfired since Welbeck swapped Old Trafford for Arsenal.

His sale was especially galling for a reverent United fanbase who had watched him grow up and evolve in front of their eyes, who had persevered through his gangly, clumsy formative years. "We were always willing to wait for him," said Sir Alex Ferguson, who, along with the rest of the United fanbase, watched with great affection as the Longsight boy turned into a man.

The logic behind Louis van Gaal's decision to allow the 23-year-old to leave therefore gets more mystifying with every cultured strike and match-winning performance that Welbeck delivers, especially with United's increasingly multicultural squad, boasting 14 different nationalities, having lost its local flavour. "He doesn't have the record of Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney and that is the standard," said the Dutchman at the time, yet the man he let go has outscored his former team-mates this season