Louis van Gaal has claimed Danny Welbeck was good enough only to be a substitute at Manchester United, and insisted he does not regret sanctioning the England forward’s £16 million exit from Old Trafford.
In a robust defence of his decision to sell Welbeck, Van Gaal has claimed that the 23-year-old was "more a substitute than a line-up player" and that the forward’s ongoing presence at United would block the progress of teenager James Wilson.
Manchester-born Welbeck, who progressed from the schoolboy ranks to become a first-team player at United, faces his former club for the first time this evening since his move on transfer-deadline day to Arsenal in September.
With Welbeck scoring 10 goals for club and country since leaving United, including a Champions League hat-trick against Galatasaray, the 23-year-old’s form in front of goal, in contrast to the injury-interrupted displays of his United replacement, Radamel Falcao, suggests that Arsène Wenger pulled off a coup by persuading Van Gaal to sell.
But despite Welbeck’s performances for Arsenal, Van Gaal insists he does not need to justify his decision to sell in order to recruit Falcao and promote Wilson.
"I don’t have to prove that [I was right]," Van Gaal said. "Why do I have to prove that? I have already said what I think – he was not a line-up player, he was more a substitute than a line-up player.
"He was already, with different coaches, not a line-up player, but then with Mr Van Gaal, the world is changing? No, the world is not changing. They are the facts. They are not my facts, they are the facts of Danny Welbeck and we have [Robin] Van Persie and we had Wilson, and when you keep Welbeck, then you don’t give any chance to youngsters and that is our philosophy.
"And then also we could buy Falcao. When that is not enough reason then I don’t know what is – then I’m not a very good manager."
While Van Gaal conceded that Welbeck has benefited from the opportunity afforded to him by Wenger, the United manager insists it is too early to judge whether he was right or wrong to let him leave.
"For Welbeck, it was a very good decision because as a line-up player, he develops himself much more," Van Gaal said. "And if it was the right decision for Manchester United, it is dependable on how we play, how we score and in what position we shall finish in the league.
"But after that you cannot say it is a very good decision or not because we are in another process to Arsenal. They have a manager who has been there for 18 years and the playing style in 18 years is the same, so that is very different. Here, Welbeck doesn’t play every match. Mostly he doesn’t play."
Van Gaal’s decision to sell has been criticised by former United manager David Moyes, whose use of Welbeck out of position, or not at all, last season prompted the player to seek a move during the final weeks of his brief reign, although the Scot insisted he would have retained the forward.
"You make your own decisions," Moyes said. "Every manager is entitled to their own opinion, but it wouldn’t necessarily be mine [to sell]. If you look, we played him in nearly all the big games and I thought an awful lot of him."
Van Gaal’s decision to sell Welbeck and sign Falcao has yet to prove the right one, however, with the Colombian forward facing a further two weeks out with a calf injury.
And Van Gaal has admitted that United’s decision to sign Falcao on loan from Monaco, rather than commit to a £45 million permanent deal, was because of concerns over his recovery from a cruciate ligament injury sustained in January.
Asked if Falcao can justify United’s decision to sign him, Van Gaal said: "I hope so. That is clear I think, but do you think that we expected he would be so many weeks injured?
"Yes we knew of his injury, but because of that, maybe we didn’t buy him."
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