After the 2-1 win over Liverpool and with no European football this season, Manchester United can now focus fully on Saturday’s clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Brighton have proven a tricky fixture for United in recent times.
In the last five meetings between the two sides, United have won just once, losing the other four, including defeats in the most recent two encounters.
While the main narrative heading into the weekend centres on how United can end their poor run against the Seagulls, other plot lines are beginning to emerge.
One of those is Danny Welbeck’s return to Old Trafford.
Of course, this is not the first time the boyhood United fan has made his way back to the Theatre of Dreams since being sold to Arsenal in 2014 for £16 million.
He has made several visits since, each time trying to upset the club he grew up supporting.
A special return amid persistent transfer links
But while he has done that over the years, this looming visit feels different, made special by the transfer links that surfaced last summer.
After the window closed, reports emerged that United had explored the conditions for bringing Welbeck back to Old Trafford following their failure to land Liam Delap.
It was then revealed that the striker had agreed personal terms with United, with a deal for a return to M16 expected to be completed in January.
Although things have gone quiet since those revelations, Welbeck’s Old Trafford visit with Brighton, in light of those links, was always going to be a point of interest.
Welbeck’s admissions
While all eyes will be on Welbeck, potentially auditioning for that winter move, he has opened up about how special it has always been to return to United.
“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 on BBC Monday Night Podcast.
“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.”
Fresh from a top performance against Newcastle, where he grabbed a brace in Brighton’s 2-1win, United fans will be hoping he does not return (to Old Trafford this weekend) to haunt them.
With four goals in eight games this season, the 34-year-old still looks sharp in front of goal.
A frustrating return?
A Welbeck masterclass at Old Trafford on Saturday would be the perfect audition to convince United to push for a winter move if not a free transfer next summer, with the striker now being in the final 12 months of his contract.
But from United’s perspective, they will be hoping he does not impress.
They need to outclass the Seagulls, and they will struggle to do that if Welbeck steals the show.
Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Daniel Onguko
Dan is a writer with The Peoples Person, an avid Manchester United fan whose passion for the Red Devils evolved into writing about them. He was introduced to United back in 2008, and his love for the club has continued to grow ever since. Like every other United fan, he believes the club will soon return to its rightful place and strives to reflect that belief in his writing. While he has also written about other Premier League sides, including Arsenal for Just Arsenal and The Arsenal Analysis Blogspot, Dan lives and breathes Manchester United.
