Danny Welbeck’s wage demands are reportedly stopping him from finding a club after he was released by Arsenal.
Despite being a free agent and coming with no transfer fee, Danny Welbeck is reportedly finding it hard to find a new club because of both his injury history and wage demands.
While at Arsenal, Welbeck earned £125kpw which is, not unsurprisingly, seen as a bit excessive by the clubs that want to sign him. Even though he has reportedly dropped his demands to £100kpw (plus a £5m signing-on bonus), it’s still a bit rich for most.
Still only 28, this should be Welbeck’s biggest and best contract of his career but the forward’s knee problems at Arsenal leave a lot of suitors with major doubts over committing to hefty wages.
Welbeck has been linked with the major Turkish clubs but, as we know, they won’t be able to afford him. They like to get involved but they rarely ever deliver.
He was reportedly offered to Newcastle who said no and while some other Premier League clubs have been linked nothing has developed.
The last major movement was back in June when his agent said he’d love to see Welbeck playing in Turkey with three offers on the table.
Lazio are also said to be interested but reluctant to agree to such large sums because of his injury history.
Under Unai Emery, Welbeck played just 14 times.
While there is no doubt he would have seen more game time if his ankle hadn’t snapped like it was made of Jack Wilshere DNA, his return of 32 goals and 15 assists from 126 games since his £16m transfer from Manchester United in 2014 hardly speaks of restrained striker just waiting for a run of fitness.