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Should Arsenal break their wage structure to keep hold of this man?

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Arsenal must break their wage structure to keep hold of Theo Walcott, says former Adrain Clarke.

The 23-year-old winger has yet to pen a new deal at The Emirates and looks set to leave the club, either in January or at the end of next season on a free when his current contract expires.

If this was to ensue, then Walcott would become the latest star on the list to leave the club, with Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Alex Song all departing in the space of two seasons.

And Clarke believes Arsene Wenger must not let this happen, urging his former manager to do everything in his power to keep hold of the England international:

‘It comes to a point where you have to bend a little,” he told Extra Time. “Arsenal have really good principles. They don’t break the bank for anybody, they’re not held to ransom and they’ve got a strict wage policy.

‘They don’t like to favour one player over another but sometimes you have to keep hold of your best players.

‘You have to bend it a little bit and restructure so that Theo [Walcott] is happy. I don’t think Theo is asking for the earth.’

He added:

‘There does come a point where they have to push the boat out just a little and see if we can give these star men what they want and build a team around them.’

Liverpool, Chelsea and PSG have all been linked with a move for Walcott, and Clark firmly believes Wenger wants to keep hold of him as he is an important asset to the side:

‘Arsene Wenger definitely wants Theo Walcott to stay at Arsenal. There’s no question about that.

‘He knows he’s a good player and an important player to keep at the club, he doesn’t want to lose another key man.’

If the board were not prepared to adjust or break their wage structure to keep hold of Robin van Persie, who was arguably our best player last season, what makes Clarke think they will do it for Walcott?

If he wants to go then he should. And even if does want to stay, what makes him think he is worthy of the cash he is demanding?

It’s a very dodgy situation for both club and player, as I believe Walcott can become a big player for us in the future, while Arsenal are unwilling to hand him what he wants.

Hopefully, for the good of the club, this issue is resolved, like Wenger said, by Christmas.

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10 comments

  • goonerbeau says:

    I’m fed up hearing the mantra ” break our wage structure”. Giving Walcott what he thinks he is worth has nothing to do with “our wage structure”. We have paid players more than he is asking in the last few years.At the end of the day it boils down to what the club and most importantly what Wenger feels he is worth and it seems Wenger has identified another teenage prodigy which gives the club better value for money and as a result Walcott will be sold.And so the cycle goes on ….and on…

  • Lobsta says:

    I’m more optomistic about Wallcott staying at arsenal because a while back, Wenger told us about how he was building a squad that has an english core and wallcott, you would think, is a main compartment of that squad. But we’ve experienced wenger having to swallow his words before. So I’m taking that with a fingerfull of the ol bitter, white stuff

    • dboy says:

      This has nothing to do with Wenger swallowing his words. The man lies like the politician he is. How long has he promised us silverware? Now he is changing his tune again. We need a coach, not a politician to pull the wool over our eyes all the time.

  • barbes13 says:

    mark my word today, arsenal will not play in the champion league this next season if Theo is sold. mark my words.

  • Snazzy says:

    What Theo is demanding is a peanut compaired to his workrate on Arsenal uniform. The board should pesuade him to sign 100k a week wage b/c many teams are after him. We are still morning Rvp’s loss.

    • dboy says:

      Spot on! some are not even making the bench yet they are getting paid extravagant wages. I say fire Wenger cause he is costing us a lot. Increase Theo’s salary and get a new coach/manager.

  • dboy says:

    You should have written it the other way round. Should Arsenal let Wenger go and save up some money. He is after all the biggest laiability after Kroenke,Hillwood and Gazidis. How about that imagine how much money we would have if these shareholders where out the way. I am confident Wenger is a shareholder.

  • Samson Okpe says:

    I’ve bn following arsenal now for almost two decades.Let me say the bitter truth,arsene wenger have lost focus on arsenal or better put,he is confused and should resign honourably.He is still staying at the club bcos of his good wage package.

  • mike says:

    Lets face it Wenger’s best days are done. At the moment Walcott looks like the most likely scorer on this team. Also, I am tired of the argument of who will replace Wenger. Well you get what you pay for, if Arsenal want a top manager they can easily get one, if they pay for it and change their archaic strategies a little. Wenger can not go on forever.

  • george mombasa says:

    its very simple for Wenger unless he make stupid silly decisions. TW is demading a pay hike to 100k which is worth his perfomance considering what city are giving there fringe players.squilaci, djorou,Denilson,Park,Chamack etc are earning each more than 50k a week for just being part of the Arsenal squad not anything more. Wenger should sell them all in jan and use their weekly wage to pay productive players like TW and new commers.

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