Rio Ferdinand blasts Manchester United for not blocking £16m player sale

Rio Ferdinand has criticised Manchester United for not blocking Danny Welbeck’s sale to Arsenal 11 years ago and insists the Brighton forward should be in England’s World Cup squad next summer.

Welbeck came through United’s academy and was part of the squad that won the Premier League title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season at Old Trafford, but the club opted to sell him to Arsenal for £16 million in 2014.

Explaining his decision to allow the sale of a player who had been at the club since the age of eight, Louis van Gaal, who was United’s manager at the time, said: ‘He played three seasons for the first team, but he doesn’t have the record of Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney. And that is the standard.

‘That is why we let him go, because of Falcao, but also to allow the youngsters to fit in. That is the policy. That is why I am here.’

Ferdinand played alongside Welbeck at United and is adamant that Van Gaal made a huge mistake.

‘I think he should’ve stayed at Man United, obviously, sometimes it’s not his decision,’ Ferdinand said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.

‘I think it was an absolute balls-up that they actually let him leave the football club.

‘A Manchester boy, loves the club, a great kid, never a day’s trouble for anybody at the football club, never gets into trouble, his nose is always clean, got a nice way about him, great family… what are you selling him for?

‘If the manager had come in, I think it might have been Van Gaal, whoever came in and said, ‘you can go’, you say, ‘no, no, this one is out of your hands, mate, this ain’t for you, you don’t know the detail behind this one, leave this to us’, and he’s in, he’s staying with us. That’s what should have happened with Danny Welbeck.

‘He’s a class act on and off the pitch, a great guy.’

Welbeck has made an impressive start to the season with Brighton, scoring five Premier League goals so far.

And Ferdinand believes the 34-year-old should be considered as the first-choice back-up for Harry Kane in the England squad.

‘He’s second to Harry Kane,’ Ferdinand said.

‘If you’re talking form right now and the squad was being picked tomorrow, Danny Welbeck has to go, no?

‘Experience, can do different types of things on the pitch for you, he can run in behind if need be, we saw that at Old Trafford, he can come short and link play as well as anybody outside of Harry Kane, He’s an all-round footballer, if it wasn’t for the injuries he had earlier in his career.

‘I would take him. If he finishes the season in the form he’s in right now, there’s no way you can’t take him because he’s only going there for a month, it ain’t like we’re saying to him he has to play a full season, you’ve got to be ready and that role he can do that, coming in and out, be a support act for someone like Harry Kane.’

Ferdinand also believes that England manager Thomas Tuchel should include Ivan Toney as his third striker option in the Three Lions’ squad for the World Cup.

‘Right this second, right this moment in time, form wise he’s [Welbeck] above all of them [Ollie Watkins, Dominic Solanke and Ivan Toney], and playing in the best league in the world. He’s second, for me,’ Ferdinand said.

‘Ivan Toney, there’s something about Ivan Toney I just feel for England he’s got a little bit of a swagger, if there’s a big moment that comes up I don’t know if he’s going to fluff that chance, I think he’s got that arrogance, you need that in big moments.

‘Ollie Watkins is out of form a little bit, Solanke is not in the form of Danny Welbeck and I think Danny Welbeck offers a bit more in multiple areas.

‘I would take Toney, I’m sorry. I don’t care what league he’s playing in, I’ve been covering the Saudi league, it’s better than people have been giving it credit for, by the way, and we saw that at the Club World Cup. Ivan Toney would be a special case for me. I would take Ivan Toney.’

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