Danny Welbeck reveals why he left boyhood club Manchester United for Arsenal

Danny Welbeck talks about his Manchester United exit, and how the “Welbz is dat guy” rage started

Danny Welbeck has broken his silence on why he moved to Arsenal from his boyhood club Manchester United. Welbeck moved to London for a fee of £16 million in the summer transfer window from United. The Englishman, who was seen as surplus interested Arsenal greatly, and it was no surprise that they completed the move soon after that.

How the move from Manchester to London happened

In an interview with the club website for the Arsenal Magazine, Welbeck talks about his new surroundings and how he his transfer move from Old Trafford to the Emirates transpired. Here’s what he had to say:

When you’ve been somewhere for so long and then you’re going to start a new chapter in your career, you’ve got to think about it a lot. Over the past year or so, I started to think about what’s best for me because at the time I was playing on the left wing a lot and in a 4–4-2, which is very difficult for me because I can’t make an impact on the game. I can play it to the best of my ability but that’s not best for the team, and I could make a bigger impact playing in my preferred position (up front).

You start to have thoughts but at that time you’re still going to training and I was still giving 100 per cent and giving my all in every single game – that’s just me, I’m not going to change that. But you do start to think about what’s best for you.

The chance to sign for Arsenal came up but I was quite calm about it [on transfer deadline day]. I was with the England team and sat in my hotel room at The Grove with Jordan Henderson just chilling, just doing what I’d normally do and waiting for a phone call to see what was going to happen.

But every time we went to breakfast, lunch and dinner, Jack [Wilshere] was on my case, asking ‘has it happened yet?’ There was dialogue between Arsenal and Manchester United obviously but at that time you don’t know [if the deal will go through]. At the end of the night it was good that everything was all clear in terms of what I was doing.

Welbeck’s ‘Dat guy’ nickname

The 23-year-old has just been shown a Tumblr page, which is called ‘Welbz is dat guy’ and contains images and memes of the England striker, alongwith the caption “Welbz is dat guy”, which has now become associated with him. He gives his opinion about it becoming a big thing on the internet and how it started:

“It started when Ravel Morrison tweeted it [in February 2013] and everyone just cottoned on to it. It’s a bit of slang in Manchester.

"Growing up, if you do something people often say, ‘he’s dat guy’. I think I scored a goal and Rav tweeted ‘Welbz is dat guy’ but it could be anything – dat guy could be anyone. It’s hard to explain! He added.

“In high school people used to say it all the time, a teacher can be ‘dat guy’ if you don’t like him! But it is usually used in a complimentary way. Not many of the guys have used it at Arsenal yet, although Ox has joked around saying it a few times. I didn’t realise it would be such a big thing on the internet!”