Is it time for Theo Walcott and Arsenal to part ways?

The winger Theo Walcott has been at Arsenal for 11 years now and due to various long term injuries and losses of confidence, the Englishman has only averaged 16 League starts per season (plus 8 as sub). This has worked out at a paltry return of 6 goals per season, although admittedly he did score 10 in the League last season and 9 in other competitions, which was his second best season ever.

But although he scored lots early in the season, once Wenger changed to the new 3-4-3 formation Walcott was more often than not started from the bench and was not brought on very often. Now that Wenger is faced with the task of trimming down our ‘heavy’ squad could Walcott be one of those moved on to accomodate any new arrivals that may actually be a starter in our new system.

The latest rumours are saying that West Ham are keen on bring Walcott to the Olympic stadium next season, and Wenger could rake in £25-30million to pay towards our new superstriker (hopefully Lacazette!), and it is entirely possible that Walcott could be lining up alongside Olivier Giroud in the Hammers front line.

This will bring in some much-needed cash and also reduce our ridiculously large wage bill. In Theo’s favour, he would be much more likely to be an automatic starter at West Ham and could try and win his place back in the England team for next year’s World Cup.

Is it time for Arsenal to give up on not-so-young Theo Walcott?

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24 Comments

  1. Yes, it’s the time. He always play safe to avoid injuries and to avoid losing the ball to the opponents, like Ozil.

    He very rarely take on the opponents. He has no outstanding skills, except his good shooting accuracy and his acceleration.

    BREAKING NEWS: Everton has beaten Arsenal on signing Henry Onyekuru. He would be loaned to Anderlecht for twelve months.

    In my opinion, Onyekuru would not be able to start ahead of Arsenal’s current attackers anyway. But what a cheap investment he could have been, a top scorer in Belgium league.

    If you search for “Arsenal” on Google now, you would find Alex Hleb. Arsenal signed him twelve years ago.

    Had Arsenal kept him at the central attacking midfielder position (behind a striker), not as a winger, he could have been one of the greatest front playmakers Arsenal ever has, like Bergkamp.

    I still remember when Arsenal trashed Milan at San Siro with Adebayor and Hleb. Hleb showed great vision, passing, speed and dribbling skills to help Arsenal beat Milan 0-2.

    That’s the type of front playmaker/ forward Arsenal should be looking for. Maybe Lacazette could do something like that in Arsenal.

  2. I wont mind if Theo leaves,sentiments are holding us back coz we tend to love our players so much that we are afraid of letting them go if they are not helping our team anymore…we should be ruthless for once!

  3. Keep Theo.
    We will lose Sanchez and Lucas Perez, maybe Giroud too.
    It is not certain we will land Lacazette, much less Mbappe or Aubemeyang.
    And Onyekuru is by no means a certain first choice starter.
    Theo’s 19 goals last season make him well worth keeping.

  4. Utter tripe

    A 100vmetre runner who hot the jackpot with arsenall
    100k a week is absolute criminal he is amongst the worst signings ever

  5. I think Theo is our 3rd best finisher behind Sanchez and Giroud (arguably). He can get double digit goals in a season with enough game time and without injury. Theo requires a lot of motivation to deliver (new contract, hit goals target, etc )
    There’s no letting those goals go without replacement. Perez looks good but is a bit of an unknown quantity in the PL.

    1. You oviously don’t watch Arsenal do you?Since when was Giroud a good finisher or have Arsenal fans once again forgotten so soon?The AS Monaco match was the icing on the cake to show how poor he was in finishing.He even used to be known as the ‘sitter misser’.If Walcott should go then I don’t know why Giroud should stay.Even in an inconsistent and injury plagued career he’s had more impact than Giroud ever had and ever will.Get them both out or else it ain’t fair.

  6. He’s a good squad player to have. But should a squad player be on £140,000k per week? No.

    Walcott hasn’t really improved since he’s been at Arsenal – if anything he might have regressed. He’s not even affective against the smaller/weaker teams anymore as EPL teams in the last 2 years have become more solid defensively and more pragmatic (The Mourinho/Conte effect?).

    Walcott would reap the rewards of playing in Portugal or Spain. Benfica or Valencia would be good for him. He’s been a great servant for the club and remarkably was fairly injury free last season, although he still managed to pick up injuries when we need him the most. Overall, he just hasn’t done enough. Perhaps too settled and happy with picking up his wage. A mid-table EPL player. The key is to find those hungry players that spend extra time on the training pitch and individually work on their weaknesses.

  7. We should mind what we wish for our current squad. In case you never noticed, our top 6 goal scorers from the just concluded season are all involved in contract and transfer rumours. Imagine how this will affect the club If we should sell Alexis,Walcott, Giroud, Ozil, Perez and Ox, how are we going to replace them with players that will integrate into the league on time. Mind you, with Gibbs supposedly on his way out,Wilshere on the treatment table, loosing Walcott and Ox will affect the required number of our British contingent. I don’t see much better British players in market.

  8. I always wanted Theo out, overpaid and over-stretched talent for his little services, but this year we have other priorities to deal with. Till we get rid of Perez, who AW will never rate, and get deals done for Alexis/Ozil/Ox/Ramsey or get their replacements, we should keep Theo. We do not have a more productive winger, and with Gibbs gone, we will fall short of English quota if we let others leave at will.

  9. Good question

    I used to be a big Walcott fan before he got that ridiculous salary raise after a bad season. It’s not as crazy as Rooney’s pay rise but it makes it nearly impossible to sell him if we need to. I believe one should earn a pay rise.

    Anyway, I think Theo is are best right winger. So if we are not getting a better one then we must keep him. If we get Mahrez then Theo and Mahrez would be able to push each other.

    But again his wage is awfully high. We could free up wages for better players and to keep Alexis and Ozil

    It’s a tough one

  10. I know you guys will think this a ridiculous suggestion but I think we should have a go at getting Aubemeyang or Lewandowski

    At least make a bid and speak to them or their representatives

    I also truly believe Alexis will stay if one of them come AND we will be contenders for the title. Imagine Alexis, Ozil and either Lewandowski or Aubemeyang

    Failing that we can get Lacazette

  11. Walcott is an ok player, not as bad as how people make him out to him.He still scored 19 goals last season. The problems with walcott are;
    1. Spent 10 years at the club but has not improved past a certain level and never will.
    2. Earns way too much for his quality.
    3. Injury prone
    4. Very inconsistent, patches of brilliance followed by patches of mediocrity.
    My verdit is we should have parted ways with him a long time ago but we should keep him now especially with the europa league and then sell him at the end of next season because we must move on from him and not offer him a new contract. I think a new challenge will be good for him by then also.

  12. Walcott should have been loaned out to Brazilian league years back to go and learn how to dribble…all he’s got is speed and eyes for goals without thinking…we will still need him for Europa league to rest our key players, maybe he might repent from he’s slumber.

    1. It would have helped, but to really work he would’ve had to have been a child going over. What you learn in the younger years is crucial. The guy has no rhythm for a dark skinned dude. They say the Brazillians are like the way they are because of that Brazillian martial arts thing, but I think it’s because it’s the land of the samba.

  13. I prefer we keep Ox. He has a drive, takes on defenders and defends better. He’s younger and can still improve on his final ball. Theo’s improvement stalled long ago. Get rid of him and Giroud, bring in Lemar/Mahrez and Lacazette/Auba. Lemar and Ox can push each other while Danny can back up Laca.

  14. Yes, but don’t forget how many of those 19 goals came against weak/reserve/non league opposition? (Soton reserves etc in FA cup). ’19 goals across the whole season’ gives us a skewered perception of his productivity.

  15. For a player who has been at Arsenal for 10yrs,he really has been a disappointment. How do you not improve after all that time? He should have been a better example & a leader to the youngsters & new players, but sadly not. He’s done his service to Arsenal, but it’s time for him to go. Wenger really has to start letting go of his failed projects & get serious signings if we are to move forward with ambition.

  16. Indeed Walcott hasn’t been able to progress as expected. With big clubs like Real, Man Utd, Barca, Juve etc. the tolerance for this kind of inconsistencies wouldn’t be entertained. A teams ambition is as good as it’s players and Walcott hasn’t done well to respond to his critics …. and he knows that judging from his body language.
    Also the season Walcott took the “number 14” Jersey of arsenal legend, Henry, most gooners were expecting great things from him.
    All said, the onus lies with the manager to decide on his fate. I think Wenger should work on the psyche of the player in question – it might just improve the player’s esteem & performance

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