Former Manchester United coach Rene Muelensteen has admitted that it saddens him that the Red Devils didn’t bring Danny Welbeck back home this summer.
The veteran striker joined Chelsea from Brighton for £5m in the summer, and Muelensteen believes that his former club made a massive error in not signing him, teasing that it was because club chiefs didn’t want to offer the 35-year-old a two-year deal.
As part of an exclusive and candid chat with BestBettingSites, Muelensteen also revealed that he wanted Sir Alex Ferguson to recruit Gareth Bale and Wesley Sneijder during his time as his assistant.
In a sign of how United have fallen in terms of marquee transfers, the Dutchman also claimed that Fergie would never have sanctioned the signing of Wout Weghorst, who joined the club on a half-season loan during Erik ten Hag’s tenure.
Muelensteen saddened by Welbeck’s Chelsea move
When talking about Welbeck, Muelensteen told BestBettingSites: “It saddens me to see Danny go to Chelsea rather than coming back to Manchester United.
“If the rumours are true that United refused to offer him a two-year contract, it’s a big mistake on their part and Chelsea are the ultimate winners.
“When you are looking for a back-up striker to support Benjamin Šeško, Danny knows the Premier League inside out, understands Manchester United’s DNA, and came through our academy.
“He brings immense experience, technical intelligence, and above all, humility.
“He looks after his body meticulously, and Chelsea will benefit 100% from his presence, professionalism, and goal threat.
“The Old Trafford fans would have loved to see him back.”
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Muelensteen recalls Bale and Sneijder interest
When discussing deals that nearly happened in the past, Muelensteen added: “I don’t know if we ever came close to signing Gareth Bale, but he was certainly a player we considered because he embodied United’s identity and DNA – he was powerful, fast, skilful, and direct.
“He would have been a massive asset.
“In terms of players we actually tried to get, I was very keen on Wesley Sneijder to replace Paul Scholes when Paul initially retired.
“Wesley was a great player with so many similarities to Scholesy in terms of passing range, vision, and intelligence, but that move never materialised.
“Ronaldinho was another around the time he went from PSG to Barcelona. If you look at Ronaldinho at his absolute peak, he was Messi and Ronaldo rolled into one.
“He lacked the longevity and lifestyle discipline of those two, but during those two seasons at Barcelona, he possessed a sheer ‘wow’ factor that was beyond imagination.
“I also loved Jay-Jay Okocha – a total free spirit who could dominate 1v1 situations anywhere on the pitch – though bringing him in was never close.”
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Ferguson would never have signed Weghorst
When asked if former United manager Ferguson would have considered bringing in Wout Weghorst as a replacement after selling Cristiano Ronaldo, Muelensteen said: “No chance. No. He would have never even crossed our recruitment radar under Sir Alex – not in a million years.
“In my opinion, he never had the technical ability to play for Manchester United.
That was a very strange signing. He was developing in the Netherlands at the time, but we never looked at him as a candidate to come to Old Trafford.
“You are talking about chalk and cheese; he has developed into a very potent striker for various clubs throughout his career, but you simply cannot compare him to Cristiano.”
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