Brighton boss Graham Potter quipped that Danny Welbeck would have "strapped a toilet to his backside" in order to play against his former club on Sunday.
The Seagulls star came through the ranks at Manchester United and clocked up over 140 appearances for the Red Devils before quitting the club back in the summer of 2014.
After spells at Arsenal and Watford, Welbeck joined Brighton back in 2020. He has evolved into a key play for Potter's side and played a huge part in the Seagulls' historic 2-1 win on Sunday to spoil Erik ten Hag's first game at the helm.
Welbeck produced a stunning display against his old side and was the best forward player on the pitch. He dominated Harry Maguire and Manchester United new boy Lisandro Martinez all afternoon and even grabbed an assist when he teed up Pascal Gross for the German's first goal of the match.
Ahead of the game, Welbeck was a major doubt after being struck down with a stomach bug - but Potter revealed that the 31-year-old was so determined to down his old club that there was never a chance that Welbeck would miss the blockbuster clash.
When discussing Welbeck's pre-match illness, Potter said: “He would have strapped the toilet on to his backside to play, it would have slowed him down though. He was amazing.”
Welbeck made such an impression during the match that Jamie Carragher, who was on punditry duty for Sky Sports, even claimed that Manchester United would have been better off with him. He said: "On this showing Manchester United could still do with Danny Welbeck. There is no questioning his quality but he has had injury issues in the past."
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Welbeck's dazzling display helped spoil Ten Hag's big debut following his summer appointment. The former Ajax coach became the first Manchester United manager to lose his first Premier League match since Louis van Gaal - who, ironically, was also beaten by Potter back when the Seagulls boss was in charge of Swansea back in 2014.
And Carragher stressed that United's new boss already has major issues to solve following Sunday's humbling defeat. The former Liverpool man added: "Brighton are a really well coached team. Erik ten Hag has big problems and he needs to sort them out quickly."
But Roy Keane reiterated that Ten Hag will need time to turn things around at Old Trafford.
The former United skipper said: "Really bad start for him today, but give the man a chance, give him money, he’s got to recruit. There’s issues obviously upstairs at the club, more protests at the club from supporters today, so big, big problems at United."
