When Jonny Evans spent two loan periods with Sunderland, he was eager to stay. The fans loved him, he was playing every week and he wasn’t ready to give that up.

However, after selling Gerard Pique and talking up his future role, Sir Alex Ferguson managed to convince Evans that his future was at United.

Danny Welbeck, who joined Sunderland on loan at the start of this season, may possibly have similar thoughts. Hanging out with the likes of Kieran Richardson and Frazier Campbell probably doesn’t help either.

He was Man of the Match in Sunderland’s game against Chelsea and scored two crucial goals in their 2-2 draw with Everton.

Whilst clearly not ruling out returning to United, after Steve Bruce had made it clear he would like to sign our striker on a permanent deal, Welbeck is keen to focus on the present at Sunderland, and not what might happen in the future.

“For now, I’m looking short term,” said Welbeck. “I just want to do my best in every game and I’m not thinking about whether I go back to United. My aim was to come here and get minutes on the pitch. At United, I was getting the odd chance here and there but I was never ready to take them. I’d miss loads of games and then I’d be thrown in and would struggle to do myself justice. It’s different here. I’m playing every game and I’m getting better and better. You can see I am benefiting from it. I’m confident and I’m really enjoying my football. It’s taken me a bit of time but that’s three in two and I’ve got to be happy with that. We’re a great, hungry, young team who just want to go as far in the game as we can. The manager has had a massive influence on me. He’s shown a lot of faith and I owe him a lot of thanks.”