After spending the summer getting hauled over barrels by their players, Arsenal football club needed to make certain that 23-year-old Theo Walcott wasn’t able to hold the club to ransom. Whether they’ve succeeded in this mission isn’t clear. Whilst Robin Van Persie and Alex Song worked hard to secure a move out of the club, Walcott’s aim isn’t so clear.
He has allowed his contract to run down to a single years. Negotiations were held extremely late on in the summer. Could it be that he was trying to force a move? Was he trying to use the sales of RVP and Song against his club? Or was he trying to secure better terms. Because none of us were there at the negotiating table (that includes you, Twitter agents) we can’t claim to know. We can only make wild stabs in the dark.
The past, however, and what we know of footballers and their motivations, seems to suggest a little brinkmanship on Theo’s behalf. It’s hard to picture the well-mannered, politely spoken young English lad trying to out-manoeuver Arsenal, but money can be a wonderful motivator.
The Telegraph claim that Arsenal offered Walcott a £75k-a-week deal that he didn’t sign. It’s suggested that he’s holding out for a £100k-a-week, no small fee for a player who still hasn’t been able to develop any consistency. On his day, he looks unstoppable. His pace and his eye for goal are a great combination. His crossing is also wildly underrated (just look at his assists for RVP last season).
But on an off day, Arsenal are probably better off playing with ten men. It strikes me that if Arsenal couldn’t get him to sign on for a reasonable fee, they should have let him go elsewhere.
Wenger has spoken out about his decision to keep Theo on for another year, despite the fact that his contract is running down: “Theo’s situation is simple – he will stay with us and play for us. No [he will not leave this window],” he said.
“Theo has one year to go and that is simple. We have to find an agreement with him on whether to extend the contract for a longer period or not. That is what we want to do and I think Theo loves the club. Contrary to what some media write he is not obsessed by money, there is just a little difference we hope we can, at some stage, find an agreement with. That’s it basically.”
That’s not all that convincing to me. Yes, I can believe that Theo isn’t motivated by money. But if a club like Manchester City (who are rumoured to be interested) comes knocking offering an opportunity for trophies, who’s to say he wont jump ship? In a world of multi-million pound moves, it’s hard to take a footballer’s word at face value. I just hope Arsene hasn’t got this one wrong.
After all, if another player leaves without Arsenal wanting to sell him, the claims that the Gunners are now just a ‘selling club’ may start ringing true.
What’s your take? Have Arsenal made a mistake in the way they’ve handled the Theo situation?
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