Ghanaian sports broadcaster, Dan Kwaku Yeboah has alleged that former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Fergusson blocked Danny Welbeck’s nationality switch from England to Ghana.
The Ghana Football Association started their pursuit of Danny Welbeck at the age of 18 in 2008 but was not successful as the Manchester United academy graduate made his debut for the Three Lions of England in a friendly game against the Black Stars in March 2011.
According to Dan Kwaku Yeboah, Danny Welbeck had agreed to play for the Black Stars after he was convinced by the legendary Asamoah Gyan who at the time was playing in the Premier League for Sunderland.
However, the move was blocked after former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Fergusson threatened Danny Welbeck who was a teenager at the time.
Dan Kwaku Yeboah alleged that Sir Alex Fergusson told Welbeck that switching allegiance to play for Ghana will end his Manchester United career.
“Look, Asamoah Gyan singlehandedly was able to convince Danny Welbeck to come and play for Ghana. Danny Welbeck agreed to play for Ghana.”
“Asamoah said a day before the boy decided officially, Sir Alex Fergusson heard about it and threatened him not to play for Ghana because that would be the end of his Manchester United career,” Dan Kwaku Yeboah said while discussing how the GFA can use legends to attract Ghanaian players born abroad.
Meanwhile, Danny Welbeck in December 2022 said there was no official proposal from the Ghana Football Association for him to switch nationality to play for the Black Stars.
“There wasn’t like an official approach from Ghana to come and play for them or anything like that, so it wasn’t as hard as a decision like people would have thought,” Welbeck said in an interview with UK-based Ghanaian musician, Michael Dapaah.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com