Danny Welbeck never managed it at Manchester United. Not at Arsenal either. Never as a breakthrough teenage star, nor as a seasoned big-club front man in his 20s.
At last, 17 years on from his Premier League debut, at the ripe age of 34, he finally did it. His first-half penalty at Wolves took him into double figures in a top-flight campaign for the first time in his near two-decade career.
He managed nine goals for Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011-12 and again in 2013-14 under David Moyes. Never since. Not until now, in his fifth season at Brighton, as he continues to thrive in the glow of the fading light.
There is, of course, one big reason for this. Injuries have forever blotched Welbeck’s career, from knee problems at the start of his career that ended in surgery that ruled him out of Euro 2016, to repeated hamstring issues in recent years.
Never, though, has he played as many league minutes or started as many games as he has this season. It’s why the first people Fabian Hurzeler wanted to thank when he spoke in his post-match press conference after Brighton’s win at Wolves was the medical staff.
Brighton’s head of performance Gary Walker and Florian Pfab, the club’s head of medical, have worked wonders in shaping Welbeck’s training schedules and individual treatments to keep him fitter than ever. Hurzeler believes Welbeck still has more years at the top level.
‘It is a good milestone to have,’ said Welbeck afterwards. ‘I’m looking forward to improving. We have two more games left and hopefully I’ll get some more goals.’
His 11 goals across all competitions leaves him just one shy of equalling his most prolific season across all competitions, when he netted 12 for United in 2011-12.
Welbeck converted his penalty at Molineux after Matheus Cunha brought down right-back Mats Wieffer, who hailed the influence of his experienced team-mate.
‘He was really important for us,’ said Wieffer. ‘We didn’t play the best in the second half. We were really sloppy with the ball but he tried to keep it and from there we had a bit more patience one the ball. That really helped us. In the last couple of games, he is really a target point for us.
‘He is a big influence. We don’t really have a lot of experienced players, we have a lot of younger groups. He knows what it is to play in the Premier League, he has played here his whole life.’
