Whispers on the internet have suggested that Danny Welbeck could be a Southampton player by the end of the transfer window.
It’s perceived that the Saints are keen on a deal for either the Arsenal forward or Liverpool striker Danny Ings, although as it appears that a deal for the former may be on loan rather than an a permanent transfer, a deal for Welbeck seems a lot more believable.
Southampton haven’t made a signing since the arrival of Jannik Vestergaard back on the 13th July, with the deal for the Danish centre-back meaning the club had spent all their available transfer funds based on their ‘sell to buy’ policy.
Earlier this week I suggested that the Saints should dip into the loan market with plenty of talent still available, and it now seems like the club may do exactly that by bringing in Danny Welbeck. A lot of us Southampton fans were initially hesitant, but a deal for the Englishman actually fits the mold in many different ways.
First and foremost, there’s no denying that the 27-year-old is surprisingly strong in the air. Not only that, but having learnt under two of the most celebrated managers of all time, Welbeck is a smart forward who makes intelligent runs in the box.
The English forward has never really been prolific, but not every striker flourishes when playing with a top side. An obvious example would be Christian Benteke, who after scoring a game every other game for Aston Villa made the step up and joined Liverpool, only to struggle and leave just 12 months later.
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Therefore there’s reason to believe that when playing for a more modest side, Welbeck could score a lot more – after all, he was directed involved in seven goals from just 12 starts last campaign, having been used a substitute another 16 times.
Having loaned out Guido Carrillo to Leganes, the Saints lack the kind of striker which can regularly win and score headers. Whilst Austin is no slouch in the air, there’s no denying that Welbeck is probably marginally better.
In addition, the English forward would add versatility to the Southampton front-line. With his aerial ability, he can easily work off of the more technical Gabbiadini, whilst his pace could instead see him form a solid relationship with Charlie Austin up top – let’s not forget he can also play out on the left side too.
There’s no denying that he isn’t anyone’s first choice – Vincent Aboubakar, Maxi Gomez or Michy Batshuayi are all ahead of Welbeck technically but with limited options, the Arsenal forward isn’t a bad back-up.
Furthermore, the Saints have have done good business with bigger teams in the past – Ryan Bertrand, Oriol Romeu, Mario Lemina and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg were all signed from European heavyweights and all four have flourished since moving to the south coast.
Therefore based off of previous business, there’s reason to believe that the 27-year-old could be a good signing for Southampton. Only time will tell however.