Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has revealed that his players unanimously believe Danny Welbeck should be included in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the November internationals.
Tuchel will announce his selection on Friday for England’s final World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.
With qualification for next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico already secured, the England manager can take the opportunity to trial new or returning players.
Teammates back Welbeck for return
Welbeck, 34, has been in excellent form for Brighton, scoring six goals in his last five Premier League games, including a spectacular free-kick against his former club Manchester United.
The striker, who has made 46 international appearances for the senior team, has not represented England since the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
When asked about the possibility of a retirement, Hurzeler told reporters on Thursday that Welbeck’s form has been a popular topic within the team.
“It’s certainly an issue with Danny Welbeck at the moment, so we talked about it briefly and everyone was of the same opinion.
“So I’ve never seen a football team that was 100 per cent in agreement and so it was a good talk, it was a good discussion. But as I said, it’s not something we can influence now, we can only influence to help Danny Welbeck support it in the best way he can do so.
“And I think he’s doing that right now and then we have to see what decision Thomas makes.” [Tuchel] will do.”
Hurzeler added that he even asked for a sort of show of hands among his staff, and they all agreed that Welbeck should be part of Tuchel’s plans.
While the discussion has sparked interest, Hurzeler stressed that he and the team are focused on the next league game.
“But the only goal we can set is to really focus on Sunday’s game, try to be the best prepared team together with Danny Welbeck,” he said.
Asked if Welbeck had received any contact from Tuchel, Hurzeler replied: “As I said, I think we will see on Friday. So these are things we should not discuss in public. This decision will be made on Friday, I hear. So let’s wait until then.”
“And once again, we shouldn’t focus too much on things that we can’t control. We should focus on a good training session today. We should focus on preparing well for the game on Sunday because I can say it again: we have a big responsibility for the whole club, for the fans on Sunday, and therefore we really have to focus on that.
“We can’t waste time with the noise, [or things] We cannot influence. We will see what happens tomorrow.”
