Danny Welbeck delivers strong verdict on former club Man Utd under Ruben Amorim after Brighton's 'gutting' defeat at Old Trafford

United spent heavily in the last transfer window to sign attacking stars like Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko as Amorim wanted to rebuild the squad following a disastrous debut campaign at Old Trafford in 2024-25.

The new arrivals took time to adjust to life in Manchester as the club initially struggled to perform in the 2025-26 campaign, however, since the start of October, the Red Devils have displayed terrific form. On Saturday, Amorim's side picked up their third successive victory in the Premier League as they beat Brighton 4-2 at Old Trafford.

Cunha scored his first goal for United as he broke the deadlock in the 24th minute before Casemiro doubled the team's lead. Bryan Mbeumo then scored a brace in the second half to seal an important win for his club. Welbeck and Charalampos Kostoulas both scored consolation goals for the visitors. 

Following the victory, former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves lavished praise on the new United players, telling Premier League Productions: "I don’t think the performances have been amazing but the results speak for themselves. If you think back to the first game of the season against Arsenal, that was a good performance but they somehow lost the game. The results are the most important thing. When you have players like Matheus Cunha who have a real personality… I just love the way he talks and plays. Cunha and Mbeumo along with Bruno Fernandes are guys that you can rely on and trust. Manchester United are scoring goals and look dangerous, I would say they’re conceding more than they would like, 14 is a lot after nine games. But I like the look of the team and the direction they’re going in. The goalkeeper [Senne Lammens] has made a difference as well."

Welbeck, who started his professional career at Old Trafford, spoke highly of Amorim's improving side after the game.

Speaking on Sky Sports after Brighton's loss at his former home ground, Welbeck said: "It is the best [Manchester United] side we have faced in a while. They were really organised and structured, they always have incredible players and today they really punished our mistakes. A difficult game but one we can look back and analyse. I do believe we can come here and get the three points."

Further analysing the game at full-time, Welbeck told reporters: "We are a bit gutted. There was part of the game early on where we dominated but a few silly mistakes led to goals. We are up against quality so they will punish you. It is a learning curve of us. We showed great character at the end but it wasn’t good enough. We put ourselves in a really difficult position. We have a great group and everyone is going to keep fighting, whatever the score is. We got two goals and were closing to maybe getting a third. It didn’t happen but it is a good sign we showed character."

United leapfrogged rivals Liverpool - who lost to Brentford later in the day - to occupy fifth place in the points table after the Brighton triumph. Amorim's side will now aim to build on their performance from the last three games and hope to win their upcoming clashes against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League before the third international break of this season kicks in.