Danny Welbeck’s time at Sunderland was short but sweet, and the iconic striker has been reminiscing about some of his days with the Mackems.
Sunderland have had plenty of top players gracing the pitch at the Stadium of Light through the years, but sadly, some haven’t stuck around for long.
Danny Welbeck only spent one season on loan with the Wearside club, having arrived on loan from Manchester United in the early stage of his career.
Despite the brief spell, Welbeck still loves Sunderland judging by his comments after Brighton’s win over Newcastle United at the weekend.
And now, he’s been looking back at some funny memories from his spell in the Sunderland squad.
Steven Gerrard and Danny Welbeck clashed during Liverpool vs Sunderland game
Taking part in the Sky Sports Sticker Book Challenge recently, Welbeck was asked to build a team of players he shared a pitch with throughout his career.
Given his time in the England squad, one might imagine Steven Gerrard would get a place in the hypothetical lineup, but Welbeck had one jarring memory that cost the Liverpool legend his spot.
Welbeck said: “Stevie G, I don’t know if he remembers this.. I was on loan at Sunderland, and we went to Anfield one weekend, and he gave me an elbow right across my head. Lee Cattermole went over and was like, ‘What’s that all about?’ and Gerrard said ‘Leave it, he’s a Manc.’
“I’m not putting him in my team after that, I’ll go for Frank Lampard… it was all banter after that, though, and Stevie was great with me when I came into the England squad.”
It’s interesting that even Cattermole, a player usually so fierce and immovable, was silenced by Gerrard’s response to the situation at the time. Thankfully, as Welbeck said, it was all handled in jest after the fact.
Sunderland need to bring Lee Cattermole back, they’re missing his bite
The young Sunderland squad right now is full of talented players, and they’ve shown a growing resilience under Regis Le Bris as the season has gone on.
But, they are missing one thing: genuine, raw, fighting spirit. The closest they have to that kind of player right now is probably Luke O’Nien, who loves to rile up his opponents, or Dan Neil, who offers terrier-like energy in the middle of the park.
Still, the Black Cats need more of that, and bringing in Lee Cattermole to the Sunderland coaching staff would surely imbue the squad with that bite he used to possess as a player.
Cattermole left Bristol Rovers not long ago, in fairly bizarre circumstances, and Sunderland have been looking to fill the void left behind by Mike Dodds’ departure. This could be a match made in heaven for the Mackems and Cattermole.