Brighton fans all know Welbz is Dat Guy. And former Scotland striker Ally McCoist thinks so too, hailing Danny Welbeck as the perfect mentor for Brighton teammate Evan Ferguson.
McCoist was speaking to sports betting site talkSPORT BET in an interview which was full of praise for the veteran Welbeck following his flying start to the season.
Welbeck has six goals and two assists from 10 games so far. He is the second-highest scoring Englishman after Cole Palmer.
Although if you take away the four goals Palmer scored past Brighton in their defensive horror show at Stamford Bridge, Palmer would trail Welbeck by three.
Dat Guys is an indispensable member of this Albion squad for more than just his current purple patch. Fabian Hurzeler handed Welbeck the captain’s armband in the absence of Lewis Dunk, hailing his leadership and experience – something which both Roberto De Zerbi and Graham Potter also praised.
McCoist believes Ferguson can benefit most from playing and training alongside Dat Guy every day – especially in light of his struggles with form and injury over the past year.
Ferguson went 11 months without a goal for club or country before scoring in the 2-2 draw against Wolves at the Amex.
“Danny Welbeck is the perfect mentor for Evan Ferguson,” said McCoist. “When he first broke through, Ferguson absolutely hit the ground running and I remember raving about him at the time.”
“I still think he’ll be a top striker because his quality of finishing, and the different types of finishes he can produce, is excellent.”
“He hit a slight stumbling block with his injury, but that won’t necessarily be a bad thing for him. He won’t have thought it at the time, but for a young player it can sometimes help them to come back out of the team and watching again. Hopefully that’s been the case for him because he’s a very intelligent player.”
“He’s got a fabulous role model in Welbeck. They’re different types of players and I would never make a comparison between the two, but Ferguson needs to be watching Welbeck every day in training and in games. He is the perfect teacher and Ferguson is the perfect pupil.”
Welbeck’s form has fired talk of an England recall. The most recent of his 42 caps came in a friendly against Switzerland at the King Power Stadium in September 2018.
McCoist thinks Dat Guy has unfinished business in an England shirt, saying: “He struggled a little bit earlier on in his career with injuries. If he’d stayed injury free, I think he’d have a hell of a lot more England caps than he does.”
“I interviewed him before a Manchester United game once, what a breath of fresh air he is. He’s a brilliant lad. He’s so unassuming and just a genuinely nice guy.”
“He’s one of those players where I met him, did an interview with him, then I was looking for his team’s results and always wanting him to score.”
McCoist is therefore very happy to see Welbeck on course for the most prolific season of his career. Dat Guy’s previous best haul of Premier League goals is the nine he managed for United in 2011-12.
“It’s brilliant to see Welbeck playing so well at the moment,” said McCoist. “He’s pacey, he plays on the shoulder, he’s a proper old-school centre forward.”
“He positions himself so well in the six-yard box and when you look at it, he scores so many goals sliding in at the back post to finish off moves.”
“He’s been great so far this season, he’s a key part of what they’re doing at Brighton and more power to him for that.”
