Why Danny Welbeck is Dat Guy

When Danny Welbeck arrived at Emirates at the end of August, ready to embark on what has already been a hugely encouraging Gunners career, he arrived with the phrase ‘Welbz is dat guy’ fizzing around social media. 

The derivation of the phrase? Nobody seemed to know, well almost nobody - the man himself was well aware where it came from and was only too happy to reveal all. 

"It started when Ravel Morrison tweeted it [in February 2013] and everyone just cottoned on to it. It’s a bit of slang in Manchester," said Danny, who was with his home town club United from the age of eight.

"Growing up, if you do something people often say, ‘he’s dat guy’. I think I scored a goal and Rav tweeted ‘Welbz is dat guy’ but it could be anything - dat guy could be anyone. It’s hard to explain! 

"In high school, " continues the 23 year-old, "people used to say it all the time, a teacher can be ‘dat guy’ if you don’t like him! But it is usually used in a complimentary way. Not many of the guys have used it at Arsenal yet, although Ox has joked around saying it a few times. I didn’t realise it would be such a big thing on the internet!" 

With a superb opening goal for the Gunners against Aston Villa, followed by a stunning hat-trick against Galatasaray which drew comparisons with the great Thierry Henry, ‘dat guy’ has taken little time to make his mark at Arsenal Football Club.