As we all know a number of Arsenal stars are entering the last year of their current contracts in the summer, arguably Robin van Persie’s remains the most significant out of the lot. And while every Arsenal will be praying for the Dutch striker to commit his long-term future to the north London club, many may feel differently about Theo Walcott renewing his Arsenal stay.
The 22-year-old winger has been at Arsenal for almost six years and is very much apart of Arsene Wenger’s plans.
However, Walcott only has 15 months left to run on his existing contract, and while reports suggest the England international is closing in on a new four-year deal to remain at the club – where he would reportedly pocket £80,000-a-week – nothing is yet set in stone.
As a result, many European clubs, including Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and newly Tottenham, are keeping a close eye on the situation.
Now all my Twitter followers will know how I feel about Theo, I don’t rate much and that is putting it politely. Most of his performances over the past few seasons, in my opinion, have been below par and he has failed to deliver on a number of occasions. I know he has netted a few goals here and there and has assisted in several of RVP’s goals, but he remains a frustrated figure to watch.
Personally, with his contract set to expire at the end of next season, I would look to sell him on, as he is not a consistent performer and has not improved his so called ‘talent’ enough to warrant the proposed deal on the table. Sell him, rake in about £15-18 million and look to bring in either Eden Hazard or Mario Gotze as a replacement.
Of course this is just my view on the matter, but I wanted to see what other Gooners out there thought, so we here at Gunnersphere.com conducted a poll which asked the question – should Arsenal look to extend Theo Walcott’s contract beyond 2013?
Well many Arsenal fans cast their votes on the topic and I have to say that I am slightly surprised with the outcome, considering a lot of the faithful that I talk to rate Theo.
Results show that 43% (the majority) of votes cast (833 in total) believe the club should look to offer him a new deal, while 38% would rather the club sell him on. 19% remain on the fence.
Guess the only thing for us to do now is to sit back, enjoy the rest of the season and see if Theo is rewarded with a new deal, this particular Gooner hopes not.
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I TOTALLY AGREE, SELL HIM TO ANYONE STUPID ENOUGH TO BUY HIM! HE IS USELESS. I FIND IT HARD TO UNDERSTAND THAT ANY ARSENAL FAN WITH HALF A BRAIN WOULD WANT TO KEEP HIM!
Theo being sold on is probably just will convince Van Persie to leave.
Sunday really made one point clear and that is that Theo’s position is not out on the touch line. He is like a fish up a tree against the touchline and it doesn’t play to his strengths. When he moved inside in the second half, he was deadly.
Second, playing teams who park the bus doesn’t really suit him either. Maybe what it needs is for Wenger to be a little more choosy about which games to play him in.
I CAN THINK OF 2 GAMES THIS SEASON WHEN THICKO HAS BEEN PUT THROUGH THE MIDDLE AND GONE ONE-ON-ONE WITH THE KEEPER AND PUT IT WIDE ON BOTH OCCASIONS. BUT OF COURSE IN BOTH THOSE GAMES WE WERE NOT WINING 3-2
Wrong. Theo scored twice because clueless ‘Arry has no idea how tactics work. Going behind 3-2 and with Sagna keeping Bale quiet, ‘Arry insructed Bale to cut in more which forced the Spuds to play a more narrow game in the middle of the park. This narrow game freed up the wing for Theo and he found that he had alot more space out wide once Bale was becoming more central. This space became too much for Assou-Akotto to mark alone and Theo simply used his speed to his advantage and bang he knocked in 2 goals.
The game shows the exact opposite of what you’ve said. Theo is a wide man, he cannot play centrally because he’s indecisive as he showed on Sunday when he was clear on goal and then opted to pass to RVP who was marked by 3 people.
“I can only speak from experience but he [Walcott] was one of the most dangerous players I have ever played against,” said Messi. “Barcelona players are not scared easily but I can tell you that when we played Arsenal last season he truly worried us.” 14 Feb 2011
“I must say that at the time I thought it was a bad decision to leave Theo Walcott at home, and I think that has been proved right,” he [Messi] said in the Star. “I can only speak from experience but he was one of the most dangerous players I have ever played against.”
On Walcott’s omission from the England World Cup Squad
“Everything he [Guardiola] does is for a reason, he never says things for the sake of it,” Xavi Hernández says. This time is no different: “Theo Walcott,” Guardiola tells his players, “runs 100 metres in 10.37 seconds.” 6th April 2010
“I love him, I honestly love him,” said Van Persie. “I don’t understand the criticism. On Saturday he gave three very clear assists, two for me and one for Alex.” 6th Feb 2012
I DONT REALLY CARE WHAT MESSI SAYS AND RVP IS HIS TEAM-MATE. I HAVE SEEN HIM EVERY GAME THIS SEASON AND HE IS CRAP. I DONT CARE EITHER HOW FAST HE CAN RUN. HE SCORED A HAT-TRICK AGAINST CROATIA, SINCE THEN WHAT HAS HE DONE FOR ENGLAND? HE HAD THAT RUN AGAINST LIVERPOOL IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, THE GOAL AGAINST CHELSEA THIS YEAR, BESIDES THAT WHAT HAS HE DONE FOR ARSENAL IN 6 YEARS? HAD HE NOT SCORED THE 2 LATE GOALS ON SUNDAY AFTER THE GAME WAS WON WOULD YOU BE DEFENDING HIM?
BY THE WAY, PLEASE LOOK AT THE LINK BELOW – THIS IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE PACE AND YOU FACED WITH A DEFENDER NEVER MIND 2 DEFENDERS AS YOU WILL SEE FROM THE CLIP – AND THIS GUY IS NOT 22
http://redlondon.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/video-ryo-miyaichi-embarasses-two-chelsea-players/?
If he scores 2 goals and/or provides 3 assists per game, I’m good with that.
I say keep him, but not at $80,000. I don’t know what his current salary is, but I would like him to be at around 40-50 grand. No way he deserves 80 grand based on his performances this season.
But he has till the end of the season to convince. If the Podolski rumors are true, then he may not even be a regular starter next year. So $80,000 is too much for him right now.
I’d sell Walcott for Hazard or Gotze. If we don’t buy either I’d keep him and let him compete with the Ox
Many Arsenal fans saying sell Walcott will regret it in a few years time. Walcott will come into his own very soon and be a lethal strike force. What will enable Walcott to improve at a more rapid pace? Is three things: 1. More quality players in the squad and 2. Is Walcott working one-to-one with a coach to further develop his individual skills. 3. Plenty of encouragement.
There has not been another player in the Premiership that has been abused by pundits, fans and bloggers as much as Walcott and credit to the lad he has not turned to alcohol for comfort.
What Walcott has to adjust to is playing on all surfaces. Good pitches and also poor ones. Tonight I watched the brilliant Nemar playing for Brazil and he disappointed. Yes! There were a few touches, but on the whole he did not not live up to expectation. The pitch contributed to his poor performances.
WHAT PLANET ARE YOU ON? DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL? THICKO WALCOTT HAS BEEN WITH ARSENAL FOR 6 YEARS AND HAS PLAYED WITH SOME HIGH QUALITY PLAYERS IN RVP,FABREGAS,ROSICKY, NASRI AND ARSHAVIN. HE HAS STARTED ALMOST EVERY GAME FOR ARSENAL THIS SEASON AND HAS BEEN POOR. I CAN ASSURE YOU HAD ARSHAVIN STARTED THE AMOUNT OF GAMES THAT THICKO HAS THIS SEASON WE WOULD HAVE SEEN THE BEST OF ARSHAVIN. THERE IS A YOUNG 18 YEAR OLD AT ARSENAL WHO ALSO CAME FROM SOUTHAMPTON AND HAS ONLY BEEN HERE 6 MONTHS AND HAS EMBARRASSED THICKO – WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE, TIME HAS RUN OUT FOR MR WALCOTT. I SUPPOSE YOU WERE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT THOUGHT THICKO WAS OUTSTANDING ON SUNDAY, OUR MOTM? WE CAN ALL SCORE GOALS WHEN WE ARE LEADING 3-2 AND THERE IS NO PRESSURE!
Are you guys nutz???
We need to keep him for his pace alone. Even if he isn’t a starter he can have a big impact of the bench, that pace can leave almost anyone on a football pitch looking slow. No he’s not the best finsiher but he makes a great winger. We need to expand the squad with quality and it appears that for once we dont need to sell to buy.
Dont sell any starting players sell bench warmers like Arsgavin (a Loan doesn’t recoup the money we spent getting him), Park, Chamakh, SQuillaci (or give him away just get him off the wage bill), Diaby (Fragile, constantly injured). Relace these 5 with 2 quality players ( striker and creative/attacking midfielder) and we’d have squad to challenge anyone.
SORRY – I WOULD RATHER KEEP ARSHAVIN THAN WALCOTT.
Seriously… Who the fuck would pay 15-18 million for Walcott? Try something closer 3 million.
Sources say,we have bought podolski,who also plays as a left winger,we got miyatchi,though I may not want to disturb the kids progress,but his prospects look good on the left.I will give walcott a new contract,AOC is still new to the league,walcott is experienced & when in form,is good 2 watch(chelsea/tottenham/blackburn-assists).There is no need for hazard any more,so walcott stays
I CANNOT BE BOTHERED WITH IDIOTS LIKE YOU. I HOPE YOU ALL GET WHAT YOU WISH FOR. THE FACT THAT YOU CAN MENTION ASSIST FROM 3 GAMES WHEN THIS GUT HAS BEEN IN THE LEAGUE FOR 6 YEARS SAYS IT ALL. AND THE FACT THAT YOU ARE MENTIONING HIM IN THE SAME BREATH AS HAZARD SHOWS YOU NOTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL.