Danny Welbeck is having the best Premier League goal scoring season of his career – and yet England continue to overlook the Brighton striker.
In the final international break before the World Cup, Thomas Tuchel named an extended 35 man squad. Even with 10 more players called up than normal, Welbeck still missed out.
The traditional number nine backup to Harry Kane for games against Uruguay and Japan will be provided by Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke.
Calvert-Lewin has 10 Premier League goals in 28 appearances for 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United.
Decent numbers on the face of it. Less so when you consider seven of them came in a six game purple patch in December and Calvert-Lewin has scored just twice in his last 12 outings.
Solanke meanwhile has managed a grand total of three goals from 12 matches for a Spurs side who are at very real risk of suffering a hilarious relegation to the Championship.
And Welbeck? 12 goals in 30 league appearances is his highest ever haul in a Premier League season. With seven games still to play.
Kane is the only Englishman with more goals so far in 2025-26 than Welbeck, ever so slightly ahead on 31 in 26 Bundesliga appearances for Bayern Munich.
Throw in 10 Champions League goals and six in the DFB Pokal and Kane has 48 in all competitions. What an incredible player.
But we are not here to talk about Kane. Back to Welbeck, who having scored 10 times last season as well, has hit double figures in consecutive campaigns for the first time.
As the saying goes, he is ageing like a fine Malbec. Or should that be Malbeck?
Welbeck England omission a surprise to many
The omission of Welbeck from the latest England squad came as a surprise to a lot of people – fans, pundits and both Brighton and England players.
Especially when Tuchel showed he does know the Albion exist by giving a first international call up to Brighton’s 35-year-old number two goalkeeper. Jason Steele going to the World Cup (potentially) is quite the story.
Former England international Kevin Phillips has put forward one of the best arguments so far for England including Welbeck alongside Steele.
Most people have focussed on the 12 goals Welbeck has. Phillips made the point that if Welbeck extends his March form into April and May, he could finish the campaign scoring close to 20.
It is an almost-mythical number for a Premier League forward to reach, hence the “20 goal a season striker” every club craves. Tuchel surely cannot leave Welbeck at home if he gets near it.
“Getting close to 20 goals is a phenomenal return you cannot ignore”
Phillips told BestBettingSites.co.uk: “I do think Welbeck deserved a call-up, if I am being honest. At his age, to score 12 goals in the Premier League is phenomenal. But not just that, when you look at him, he still looks like a young lad.”
“He is very mobile. He has got the experience now, having played where he has played. When you look at the players England have got in there, Welbeck should be involved.”
“Take Dominic Solanke, for example. Tottenham are having a terrible season, and he has not pulled up many trees.”
“If you are picking on form, I would put Welbeck in that squad and have a look at him. Say he goes on and scores another five or six goals before the end of the season, he could potentially be sitting near 20 Premier League goals.
“That is a phenomenal return and you cannot ignore it. I am a little surprised Welbeck has not had the call if I am being honest.”
Clinical Welbeck the perfect backup for Kane
Kane is obviously irreplaceable for England. His scoring record for club and country speaks for itself. And the Three Lions captain is about more than just goals.
He makes intelligent runs which create space for others. Can operate as a classic target man holding the ball up and bringing teammates into play. Or drop deep into midfield and pick passes to create opportunities.
Three sentences you could equally apply to Dat Guy. That is perhaps the most mystifying aspect of Tuchel overlooking Welbeck.
Dat Guy is not only the second-highest scoring Englishman playing top flight football in Europe this season behind Kane. But he is arguably the most similar striker to Kane of all the options available to Tuchel.
Where they are closest aligned is on finishing ability. Both are deadly clinical. Everyone knows that about Kane. It is a trait less associated with Welbeck.
Dat Guy though scored his first six goals of the current campaign from just seven shots on target. His brace as Brighton beat Liverpool 2-1 was plundered from two shots, given him a 100 percent conversion rate against the champions.
Not a bad way to make a point to Tuchel a little over 24 hours after the England squad was announced with Welbeck’s name not in it.
What Welbeck said about missing out on England selection
The BBC match report of the win over Liverpool wondered aloud whether Welbeck cupping his ears at the away end after opening the scoring was directed at Reds fans or Tuchel.
We all know the answer to that. Welbeck has too much class to goad the England boss. And as a Manchester United academy product and boyhood fan, Dat Guy will have thoroughly enjoyed netting against Liverpool.
Welbeck was diplomatic when asked by TNT Sports about his lack of England call up following the Liverpool game.
Dat Guy said: “I like to focus on the positive side so for my name to be mentioned is nice. It is a good thing. I like to focus on that part of the game. You can only control what you can control.”
“I don’t like to waste energy on something I have no bearing on. Right now, I enjoy my life and I am enjoying my football. The rest of the stuff sorts itself out.”
If Tuchel has any sense, Welbeck be sorting his stuff out for a summer spent in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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