Theo Walcott is not the answer to Everton’s attacking problem, and they really need to change targets if they want to kick-on next season.
The Daily Mirror reported on Friday that the Toffees were confident of signing the Arsenal attacker and were preparing a £20million bid.
The report even suggested that Everton were set to match his wages at the Gunners’ and pay him £140,000-per-week.
This would be a terrible deal for the Toffees, absolutely shocking, and would be a real indication that they won’t match the lofty ambition possible of them next season.
Everton are a few puzzle pieces away from having a team that could compete in the top six, even though they started this season in relegation battle.
All Sam Allardyce’s team lack is an attacking presence, who can guarantee them goals, and Walcott is not that player.
This season, Walcott has scored four goals in 15 appearances with three of them coming in the Europa League against questionable opposition.
When you consider that the 28-year-old has played his Premier League football at a title challenging club, 65 goals in 298 Premier League appearances is rather poor.
It’s not an impressive stat because when you’re playing for someone like Arsenal, with the opportunities he has had, he should have scored more.
While it’s true that he has been stuck out on the wing, then switch to central role and generally hasn’t always be the side’s leading threat, that shouldn’t have stopped him scoring.
Charlie Nicholas revealed on The Debate that the attacker should have left Arsenal two or three seasons ago and that he never truly fulfilled his potential.
Walcott was tipped to be England’s bright light, but he hasn’t even delivered consistently on a domestically level and has never been seen as a gamechanger.
The attacker has gotten worse if anything in the last few seasons, which maybe due to a lack of gametime, however he wasn’t progressing before getting dropped.
Walcott has had some memorable performances from in his early days at Arsenal, but he hasn’t show signs of playing like that in years.
It’s very possible to question whether he has the desire to do well, when he was dropped from England there didn’t seem to be any sign of a response.
The articulate 28-year-old spoke a good game, saying all the right things, but he hasn’t shown adequate passion on the pitch that makes you think he’s worth having in your team.
The England international’s contract expires in 2019, if the Toffees waited and secure a cheap move for him, it’d be easy to argue you that he’s worth gambling on.
However, when fees of £20million and wages of £140,000 are suggested; Everton need to steer clear and find someone whose best days are in front of them.