Van Gaal explains why Man Utd sold Danny Welbeck to Arsenal

Danny Welbeck

Louis van Gaal stands by his decision to sell Danny Welbeck and claims he did the striker a favour by offloading him.

Welbeck faces his former club Manchester United for the first time on Saturday since his £16million transfer deadline day move to Arsenal.

The England striker, with five goals for the Gunners this season, has scored more than Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Falcao, raising questions about the wisdom of Van Gaal's decision to jettison him.

Falcao, brought in to replace Welbeck, remains sidelined with a calf injury, with no indication of when he will be fit, while Van Persie is struggling for goals and form, and Rooney is currently operating in a deeper-lying role.

Against that backdrop, Van Gaal's judgement over Welbeck is on the line, but the United boss insisted the 23-year-old was never going to feature regularly under him had he remained at Old Trafford.

Welbeck has thrived at Arsenal, benefiting from a consistent run playing as an out-and-out striker, something he was never afforded at United, where he was shunted all over the pitch to accommodate others.

When he took the controversial decision to let Welbeck go, Van Gaal claimed the Manchester-born forward, who had been at United since the age of eight, was simply not at the same level as Rooney, Van Persie and Falcao.

And Van Gaal, 63, said he has no regrets at selling Welbeck, with the striker desperate to prove a point when he faces his boyhood club at the Emirates Stadium.

"I think that a player who is playing mostly fixed in the team, he develops and always will,” said Van Gaal.

“He takes all the benefit from playing every week. That was a question mark with Manchester United. It's good to see he's doing what I thought.

"He could have also played for Manchester United. But we have decided that he could go and he has taken the benefit of it.

"He does very good at Arsenal. I cannot judge him so good. Now I shall see him and I shall judge him.

"But I don't think it is so important how I judge him because he is now playing for Arsenal.

"He's not a Manchester United player anymore so now we have to beat him also. He's not alone, we have to beat Arsenal.”

Despite Welbeck's impressive form since joining Arsenal, Van Gaal said he was not losing any sleep over the prospect of Welbeck scoring against United tomorrow and making a mockery of the Dutchman's decision to bin him.

"You know Robin van Persie was a player at Arsenal?” said Van Gaal. “This is the football world.

“Van Persie has scored already three goals against Arsenal as a United player - that's life, believe me. That's life.

“For him it's a special game. Also for the Arsenal fans who valued Robin van Persie very much.

"For the fans, for Wenger, it is a special game. But i'is the same thing for Welbeck. It's even.”

When he arrived at United in the summer, Van Gaal stressed he was a “long-term” coach, rather than one with a short-term vision, focused on immediate results and success.

But the age profile of United's strikers – Rooney 29, Van Persie 31 and Falcao 28 – would suggest otherwise, with only James Wilson, at 19, representing anything like a long-term prospect in attack.

Certainly the feeling among those who worked with Sir Alex Ferguson is that the former United boss would never have countenanced the sale of Welbeck.

Former United first-team coach Rene Meulensteen was adamant Ferguson would not have allowed Welbeck to leave. “No, definitely not,” said Meulensteen.

"You look back through the history of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and we were always keen on bringing young players through and giving them a chance.”

Van Gaal said he was relishing the showdown with Wenger, only the second time he has faced the Frenchman, after his Barcelona side beat Arsenal 4-2 at Wembley in 1999 and drew 1-1 in the Camp Nou.

"It's the first time I'm sitting on the bench against Arsenal as Manchester United coach,” said Van Gaal.

“I have faced them once when I was in Barcelona, then Wenger was on the bench. I've heard he's already done 18 years with Arsenal so he must have been on the bench in that game.

"The way they play for such a long time, he has an attacking way of playing and when you playi for the fans, I think it's nice.

“The rivalry [between United and Arsenal] is normal in sport - it should be abnormal when it's not like that."