Danny Welbeck tipped to be named in England's World Cup squad

Brighton forward Danny Welbeck deserves a place in Gareth Southgate's 26-man England squad ahead of this winter's World Cup in Qatar.

That's according to talkSPORT and Saturday Social pundit Rory Jennings, who believes the 31-year-old former Arsenal striker is a "class act" and could do a job for the Three Lions.

Welbeck, who has failed to score for the Seagulls in seven Premier League appearances this season, netted six goals in 27 games under Graham Potter during the 2021/22 campaign.

He has, however, impressed while leading the attacking line for Brighton of late and following his decent run of form, Jennings was full of praise for the Manchester United academy product.

"This is a player," he says, pointing to a picture of the Brighton forward while appearing on Saturday Social.

"Danny Welbeck goes to the World Cup. I genuinely believe it. His late career bounce is a testament to the brilliance of [Graham] Potter. He is playing so well. I think he deserves a World Cup place."

Jennings added: "Bearing in mind it's a bigger squad, I think that he could do a job. He's a class act."

Those comments certainly raised eyebrows in the studio. Sat next to Jennings on the show, AFTV host Robbie Lyle played down a possible World Cup place for the Brighton man.

"When Danny Welbeck was at Arsenal, I loved him," he said. "He's a very unlucky player with the amount of injuries he's had. Very unlucky. He's been playing well at Brighton but he's not clinical enough. Ivan Toney is a lot more clinical."

Jenkins hit back, saying: "Welbeck is so much better than Ollie Watkins. You know those other strikers he [Southgate] could take. Maybe it's Tammy Abraham, Ollie Watkins or Callum Wilson. Welbeck is the jewel in that crown."

Here is the conversation in full from last weekend's Saturday Social show.

Welbeck, who has made 42 appearances for England since making his international bow in 2011, earned praise from former Arsenal striker Ian Wright earlier this month following Brighton's win against Leicester.

“There’s a lovely balance to the team with Danny Welbeck, when he’s playing that number nine role, where he is linking the play.

"Then you have [Leandro] Trossard, [Alexis] Mac Allister, [Solly] March all getting forward with [Pascal] Gross just dropping off and linking the play. It was very good and impressive to watch.”

Do you think Welbeck deserves a place in Gareth Southgate's England squad if he continues to impress for Brighton?

Let us know in the comments.