Do Arsenal still need Theo Walcott?

At 25-years-old, Theo Walcott should be enjoying the best years of his footballing career. He has all the assets and qualities necessary for him to succeed. He’s one of the fittest players in the Premier League, he’s lightning quick and he’s a natural goal-scorer. His finishing technique is sometimes reminiscent of Thierry Henry’s.

But he lacks one thing: impetus. Too often he fails to impose himself on games. If Arsenal are struggling to break into a game, Theo’s not the man to help them get back into it. For all his pace, he’s not a particularly hard worker. He also makes a lot of poor decisions in the final third and can be wasteful with his passing.

As a result, his progress this season has been blocked. He’s only made 9 appearances this season (largely due to injury) and it seems that Arsene Wenger doesn’t trust him in big games (or away from home). He’s the anti-Alexis Sanchez. He doesn’t have the dynamism necessary to truly establish himself as a world class footballer.

Now it seems that Arsene Wenger is attempting to tie him down to a new long term deal. His current contract will expire next summer, so some degree of urgency is required. Here’s what a particularly sassy Arsene Wenger had to say:

‘The first contacts have been established with the embassy! We will see how that progresses politically. Walcott was difficult to convince [last time] and that’s why it took us much time. We started very early with him, but it was slow progress. He is very quick on the pitch but off the pitch not always.’ (Source: The Metro)

It sounds like Arsene Wenger is still a little bitter from the last Arsenal-Walcott negotiations (which dragged on and on…). Still, it strikes me that Arsenal are in a much better position than they were back then.

After all, at that stage, Arsenal hadn’t won silverware for the best part of a decade and were losing all their best players on a season-by-season basis. Theo Walcott was also one of The Gunners’ best players. Nowadays, however, he’s not a guaranteed first teamer by any means. Arsenal could probably afford to let him go.

But that’s not to say that they should. Here’s what I’m hoping for: Theo stays, but on Arsenal’s terms, not on those dictated by the player’s agent. Fingers crossed.

What’s your take? What does the future hold for Theo Walcott?

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