Why is Danny Welbeck Called ‘Dat Guy?’

After his two-goal performance for England against Switzerland on Monday, Danny Welbeck’s smiling face is all over the internet. And you’ll often see Welbeck referred to as “Dat Guy.” And, if you’re reading this, then you’re probably wondering why.

It all goes back to a February 2013 tweet from Welbeck’s then former Manchester United teammate Ravel Morrison:

welbz is dat guy

— ra’vel (@morrisonravel) February 13, 2013

After Morrison’s tweet was retweeted thousands of times, “dat guy” became a mini-meme, with Manchester United fans using “dat guy” as a nickname for Welbeck in the Red Devil corners of the internet, especially in forums.

But what does “dat guy” actually mean? Well, according to the Welbeck himself, it doesn’t really mean anything too profound. It’s just a Manchester phrase [Welbeck and Morrison are both from the area] that seems similar to calling someone “the man,” in a positive way,

Here’s an excerpt from United Review, the Manchester United matchday programme, in which Welbeck answers a fan’s question about the provenance of “dat guy.”

There’s a cult following of Ravel Morrison’s tweets about you. He tweeted: “Welbz is dat guy”. Were you aware of that? And are you ‘dat guy’? – Tom Coast
Ravel is too much! [laughs] In Manchester where we both grew up, it’s sort of a slang term as praise, ‘He’s just that guy.’ That guy could be anything, though. But that’s funny that Rav said that. I’m not on twitter so I had no idea about it and I’d not seen that before. Rav is dat guy though.

So there you go, that’s why Welbeck is “dat guy.”