I don’t know whether Arsene Wenger had the Theo Walcott contract situation on his mind when he gave the Arsenal and England international star the nod for the starting centre forward position as Arsenal prepared to face Aston Villa in the FA cup final, as I suggested in an article this week.
Whatever the thinking behind the decision, the Frenchman will have been delighted with his choice as Walcott put in another great performance and scored a very good goal to open the scoring and lead Arsenal to a thumping win over Tim Sherwood’s men.
If the boss was trying to persuade his striker that he was a valuable part of the Gunners after over a year on the sidelines and little time on the pitch once he was fit, it seems to have worked. After the game Theo was interviewed and asked repeatedly whether he was now going to sign a contract extension and after trying to be a bit coy, our rapid forward let his decision slip out.
Walcott had a huge grin on his face as he said, “I’m sure that it will get sorted out.”
But that was not enough for the reporter who kept asking him if that meant he would definitely be signing up for more years with Arsenal. and Walcott could hardly have been clearer with his response.
He agreed, “Of course.”
So there you have it Gooners and why would he not want to stay after that fantastic final showed once more that the Gunners really are getting right back to the top where we belong?