Ashley Young is the latest Manchester United legend to express his disappointment over Danny Welbeck's move to Chelsea.
The striker signed a two-year contract with Chelsea last month after a successful season at Brighton.
Young and Welbeck were teammates in the Old Trafford dressing room for three seasons at the end of Ferguson's managerial career before the striker was sold to Arsenal.
After that, Welbeck had a successful career at the Emirates Stadium, then played for Sunderland and Watford, and most recently for Brighton.
The 35-year-old had what was arguably his best season at Amex Stadium last year, scoring 14 goals, which has led to calls for him to be included in England's World Cup squad.
However, Welbeck failed to make Tuchel's 26-man squad, but his performance was highly praised by Chelsea's new manager Marcos Alonso.
Young was happy for his former teammate, but he also felt some regret that Welbeck hadn't been able to return to Manchester United.
“Chelsea have indeed signed some good players, and their squad needs some experience,” Young told talkSPORT at the launch of the Topps flagship Premier League 2026/27 collectible card series.
“He is a very good friend of mine, Wilbers. I have been talking to him for the past few weeks.”
When asked if Welbeck was excited to start the new season at Stamford Bridge, Young said: "Of course he is. He is very happy to join Chelsea, especially at this stage of his career."
He proved himself time and time again.
"Could he have boarded the plane to the World Cup? To me, I might say with a bit of bias that he should have gone, but he wasn't selected."
“He has been performing exceptionally well, and to be honest, I regret that he didn’t return to Manchester United.”
Before his move to West London, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand had been urging the star to return to Old Trafford.
Ferdinand wrote on social media: "Wilber... forget everything else, come back! Manchester has Champions League matches next season."
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville expressed the same view, believing that the club should not have sold Welbeck to Arsenal in 2014.
“I said 10 years ago that Manchester United shouldn’t have sold Danny Welbeck. He’s done an excellent job since he left,” Neville told Sky Sports.
"He's currently experiencing a brief high point at the end of his career, but he's an outstanding player. I was his teammate and also worked with him as a coach for the England team, and he performed exceptionally well for England."
“He has been performing well in the Premier League. This is a good signing for Chelsea and will give them a real option in attack.”
After emerging from the club's youth academy during Ferguson's tenure, Welbeck quickly became disillusioned with David Moyes in the 2013/14 season.
Part of the reason is that he was assigned to play on the left wing, which prevented him from showcasing his true strengths.
Under Louis van Gaal, his opportunities to play as a center forward were further reduced. In the first three games after the Dutchman took over, Welbeck was placed on the bench.
This ultimately led to his departure to join Arsenal. He went on to score 32 goals for Arsenal, helping Wenger's team win the FA Cup twice.
