Arsenal need a big time upgrade to Danny Welbeck

Danny Welbeck’s performances have been fairly poor as of late, with the striker not being able to grasp the opportunities when given a start. But is Welbeck doing enough to be playing for a club with the stature of Arsenal, or has he done enough in the time he has been with the club?

Since the arrival of Danny Welbeck from Manchester United for a fee of £16 million during the 2014/15 season, he has yet to set the Premier League alight in the red and white of the Arsenal.

Welbeck’s arrival back in 2014 opened the door for a quick, strong, agile striker that had bags of potential – a striker that had been lacking at Arsenal Football Club since the departure of Robin Van Persie. With the right nurturing, Welbeck was likened to a future Thierry Henry.

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone to plan.

Welbeck has never scored more than nine goals in the league for any team he has played for, and with three seasons under his belt at the Emirates, he has failed to score more than four league goals.

Season after season Welbeck would have restricted game time due to injuries, many which saw him miss out for big portions of the seasons.

Welbeck was sometimes used ahead of Olivier Giroud, but due to the Englishman’s inconsistency and poor finishing, Giroud would always be resorted to when goals were required.

Olivier Giroud has lead the line for the Gunners since 2012 and has had his fare share of critics due to his lack of pace and agility. But with all the criticism Giroud has managed to score more than 100 goals for the North London side, which has definitely seen him as one of the most consistent strikers the club has had in the Premier League.

Even with Giroud suffering a spell on the sidelines due to injury, Welbeck never grasped his opportunity and was often having trouble finding his shooting boots. Whilst he has scored some important goals – the 97th minute header against Leicester just to mention one – Welbeck lacks the ability to score regularly.

Deployed as a winger or a striker, the England international has started to develop his own fair share of critics. Welbeck is often too isolated, unable to position himself well in the box, always scuffing shots, often losing the ball due to sloppy passing and failed dribbles.

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Now used as a third choice striker behind Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud, Welbeck often finds himself playing as a substitute or playing in cup competitions.

The former Manchester United striker made a negligible appearance in the 4-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest and whilst scoring a lucky goal, Welbeck was pretty much non-existent during the game. Young Eddie Nketiah managed to create a chance for himself within 5 minutes of his substitution.

Against Chelsea it was more of the same. He was irrelevant.

Prior to the purchase of Alexandre Lacazette, manager Arsene Wenger stated that there were not much better strikers out there than Danny Welbeck when Arsenal were facing a shortage of strikers. But now it is evident they need to buy a striker who can contribute to more goals when called upon as regularly as Welbeck.

While the 27 year old striker does have positives, as a striker for the Gunners, he needs to be much more clinical and have developed into a much better striker. So far, Welbeck has only scored 13 goals in the league since his arrival, that’s £1.2 million for every goal he’s scored.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Chelsea

Yes he’s a fan favorite because he runs a lot and has a good attitude, always joking and smiling. But a good attitude alone just isn’t just going to cut it if you are unable to do your job, and too many Gunner faithfuls have been giving him a free ride. Yet they would be quick to jump on another player’s back for the same reason.