A report this morning in The Guardian says young Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck is “considering his options” at Old Trafford, as his relationship with manager David Moyes has become testy.
Welbeck has been used sparingly at United this year, even after Robin van Persie was sidelined long-term with injury.
Moyes has instead preferred either moving Wayne Rooney up front to striker, or, like last week at Newcastle, starting Javier Hernandez instead.
The 23-year-old England international has started just once in the club’s last 11 matches, missing out on the squad altogether five times during that span. When he has played, he’s often been utilized out wide rather than as the featured striker.
Overall, he’s made 21 appearances this season in the Premier League, with just 13 of them starts. He’s started four times in the Champions League and four more times in the Capital One Cup.
According to the report in the Guardian, Welbeck has serious interest from Arsenal and Spurs, and it’s giving him second thoughts about his tenure at Old Trafford. There are two more years left on his deal with United, which runs out the summer of 2016.
Obviously a big deciding factor would be European games. With Manchester United needing Arsenal to win the FA Cup to secure Europa League play, Welbeck could also be enticed if the Gunners beat out Everton for the last Champions League slot.
December saw Moyes give mixed signals on his young striker. He questioned Welbeck’s training dedication, saying he wished the Manchester-born youngster would stick around with Rooney to put in extra work. However later in the month, he praised Welbeck’s influence after coming off the bench and scoring against Norwich.
Just last week, Welbeck was fined along with Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young for being out late after their Champions League second leg to Bayern Munich, despite not having another fixture for 10 days.