Danny Welbeck snubs Cristiano Ronaldo and names Arsenal hero at his best strike partner | Football

Danny Welbeck has snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo and named a former Arsenal hero as the best striker he has ever played with.

The 33-year-old is currently enjoying a new lease of life at Brighton where his form has been so good that he has been tipped to make a surprise return to the England squad.

Welbeck scored the winner in last weekend’s FA Cup win at Newcastle and the 34-year-old is arguably playing his best football since his days at Manchester United and Arsenal.

In career that has already spanned 17 years, Welbeck has played alongside several modern greats, including Ronaldo who played an influential role during his early days as a United player.

‘Actually when I was first in the dressing room and I was in the corner between Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs I was a 17-year-old and that’s who I’m sat between,’ Welbeck recalled when asked by Sky Sports to discuss his former teammate.

‘It was just amazing to see. Ronaldo you saw how early he got to the training ground, how late he left. I didn’t play as many games with him but I still got to play with him and train with him for a couple of years and that was so special.’

After Ronaldo left for Real Madrid in the summer of 2009, Welbeck linked up with the mercurial Dimitar Berbatov.

‘Berbatov had special qualities and what he could produce was out of this world I think he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves,’ Welbeck said of the flambouyant Bulgarian. ‘He was quietly confident and knew how good he was.’

After one season at United under David Moyes, Welbeck left his boyhood club for Arsenal where he enjoyed a fruitful relationship with another underappreciated foward.

‘Olivier (Girdoud) I loved playing alongside him it worked really well together. Again he’s someone who didn’t quite get the recognition he deserves but he was a top, top class centre forward and good strike partner to play with.’

Of all the players Welbeck has worked in tandem with, however, he rates Alexis Sanchez as the best of the bunch.

The Chilean arrived at the Emirates Stadium in the same summer as Welbeck and the pair, ably supported by the likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla, dovetailed superbly before terrible luck with injuries ruined the Manchester-born striker’s Arsenal career.

‘I’m going to go for Sanchez,’ he said. ‘I played a lot of games with him and I really had a good connection with him.

‘He was one where he could spot runs and find me and come again we just had a really good connection between us.’

Welbeck may have neglected to namecheck United’s all-time record goalscorer, Wayne Rooney, but the England legend, himself, spoke in glowing terms of his former teammate earlier this week and claimed he wished he was still playing for United to help aid struggling youngsters Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.

‘Danny’s great to play alongside,’ Rooney told BBC One, speaking after United’s FA Cup defeat to Fulham.

‘If I’m completely honest I’d probably like to still see him here, playing for Manchester United.

‘He’s scored goals throughout his career.

‘He had injuries in the early part of his career but he seems to have got over them and he’s having a fantastic season.’

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