Wenger confirms he is in contract talks with new Arsenal striker!

Many Arsenal fans are adamant that the Gunners need a new holding midfielder and a new centre-forward this summer at the very least, but it seems that Arsene Wenger has already made his mind up as to who will be our new striker to challenge Olivier Giroud next season.

Step forward……Theo Walcott! The Englishman has always maintained that he prefers to play as a hitman (a la Thierry Henry) and this point was alleged to be a big part of the previous “sign da ting” contract saga. Now that new extension talks have begun with Theo, Wenger has revealed that he seriously thinks that Walcott could be Arsenal’s main man down the middle.

“It’s not too late for him (Walcott) to become a striker,” Wenger said on ESPN. “I think his position will be striker. I work with him in both situations, as a striker and as a wide player, but the quality of the runs is so fantastic with the pace he has.

“He is a good finisher now. When he was younger he was rushing his finishing, but he is a good finisher now. I bought him at Southampton when he was 17 because I believe in his qualities as a good finisher and now the timing of his runs are very intelligent.

“He’s at the best age, being born in 1989. Being 26 to 32 as a striker is the best age as a striker and I wouldn’t like to miss that golden age.

“He is naturally gifted to play in this forward position, but he has different qualities. Olivier Giroud has a physical presence, back to goal, can head the ball. Theo is more a guy who is a runner, who goes behind.”

Walcott has hardly played since his year out wth injury, but Wenger reveals that this was simply because the England international simply was not at peak fitness, and even if Theo decided NOT to renew his contract then he would face the same problems wherever he goes. “You will ask whether he will play enough anywhere he will go because he will only be in a big club and in a big club the competition is there,”

“He played over 200 games for us. In fact, of the whole squad he is the player who has played the most games for us. Nobody has played more for us than Theo Walcott. I think he has played 202 games and that means he is part of us.

“What happened recently is that he has been out for a year. The time to be competitive again is longer than you expect when you are a player. He is now sharp again, but it took him a while to get back to that level. They always think they are ready but he was not. Now he is ready.”

So what does this mean? Will Walcott now be returned to the starting line-up, and will he straight away replace Giroud? I don’t think so right now. There is too much at stake for Wenger to experiment at the moment. Perhaps he has told Walcott that he will be staying next season without signing a contract extension so that Le Prof can try him out at centre-forward?

One thing that this does tell me is that Wenger WILL NOT be buying yet another out-and-out striker in the summer transfer window!

Tags Giroud Walcott Wenger

53 Comments

  1. As for me .. I think, we already have enough options in this position, because we all shout for a 20-25 goal a striker… Last season… And we got Sanchez… What is just 2 quality players. That ll give us depth.

  2. I personally want to keep Theo. I would hate to see him go to Liverpool or some other PL club

    He was brilliant for us just before his tragic injury at Spurs so if he can get back to that form and then kick on from there even I would prefer he did that with Arsenal

    1. We won’t buy a striker. Depending on exits we may bring in a versatile forward except it won’t be an out and out striker

      1. Giroud Sanchez and
        Ramsey score goals.
        Then 8 may be’s
        Walcott Wellbeck Chamberlain Sanogo
        Akpom Podolski Ryo Campbell.
        Give them all a trial pre season
        then select the 3 best. Send the rest
        plus Diaby and Flamini
        to the charity shops 🙂

        1. You are talking out your backside!
          Theo is a maybe? What planet do you live on?
          This season he is currently at about 0.57 goals per game, now considering he has been coming on as a sub for Giroud recently and he has not been given many chances due to FITNESS then getting over 0.5 goals per game is a FANTASTIC achievement.

          Last full season fit Theo got over 20 goals FROM OUT WIDE in only 43 games.

          Select the best 3 from the list you given?
          Lets be honest with all fans here, non of us would say it is a good idea to sell The Ox… Or to sell Welbeck (yet), to give up on Akpom and that didn’t include the prolific Theo which would make it 4.

          You have no clue about football, go back to playing the fantasty leagues!

      2. Versatile forward does feel highly likely.
        If Theo is a CF now and that is the reasoning behind why Theo hasn’t been playing out wide and the reason he has been brought on to replace Giroud then the Right AM slot does feel like it is up for grabs.

        Gnabry coming back from injury I think could be a real contender.
        Wellington Silva will be coming back and I think he will be looked at by Wenger, if he ends up like another Joel Campbell then at least he hasn’t cosrt us a fortune ^.^
        The Ox looks like the real contender now for that slot with others being used to fill in that role if needed.

        Ox and Gnabry could be interesting as our Right sided AM but I doubt Wenger will trust as much now that he has funds to help, Wenger knows Ox wants to play more centrally in the future and it does leave a massive hole in the Right AM.

        Dybala type of signing is something that wont surprise me, capable of playing CF to add to competition but young enough to know they are still developing as a player and the education out wide can help them (like it did with TH14).

    2. We don’t really need a striker. Walcot can play that pacey mobile striker role when he is sharp and fit, Dance can, even Welbeck can play it and we have Lil Akpom.
      What we really need is another DM, a CB and possibly a GK.

  3. I really want theo to stay at arsenal and not go to any rival club, but i still think theo is more a winger than a striker! We should still get a striker for next season to help lighten the load on giroud! Marco reus or paulo dybala would be welcomed! Coyg!

  4. What it tells me is that wenger thinks welbeck is not an out and out striker and that he thinks Theo is a better option there. It also tells me that wenger has decided he wants more from his wide players and the three behind the striker, which is why the likes of Ramsey, welbeck chamberlain and sanchez are being preferred in theos position. I also think wellington will get the nod over Theo for that role as his work rate and footballing ability in those areas is better than Walcott’s.

    Wenger here is trying to be clever, he is basically saying to Theo. I am now prepared to let u be the striker you always wanted to be, now show me you can out score olivier giroud and prevent from having to buy another striker.

    It is a similar fate that was put to to podolski, campbell and ryo who have all failed to show they have the workmate required to play wide and obviously don’t have the ability to play the main striker role. Sanogo also has failed in that main striker role. In my opinion, walcott doesn’t possess that ability either and I think wenger will sell all of those 4 this summer and possibly walcott in january and buy a left winger and another striker. Reus and Jackson Martinez would be my choices.

    Similarly I would let 4 midfielders leave, arteta, rosicky, flamini and diaby whilst buying schneirderlin and kondogbia

    My final piece of first team transfer business would be to get cech and sell szczesney

    Leaving 24 of my 25 looking like this (u21s in brackets)

    Cech, ospina, martinez

    Jenkinson (bellerin) debuchy mertesacker (chambers) Gabriel (hayden) koscielny monreal gibbs

    Coquelin schneirderlin kondogbia, Ramsey (zelalem) wilshire (bielik) ozil, cazorla

    Walcott, welbeck, wellington (gnabry) reus sanchez

    Martinez giroud (akpom)

    My last space would be filled by carvalho if we had money left to be used as a utility player or I would keep one of the 8 outfield players I was planning on selling/releasing

    1. Coquelin, Scheiderlin and Kondogbai

      3 players to rotate one position …

      Excellent!!!

      1. Oops just realised I left out chamberlain, so scrap my last comment about the 25th place, sorry carvalho!!!

        Hafiz rahman – But no all 3 are different types of players and far better than the current option of 4 coquelin arteta diaby and flamini

        1. @atid…… For now, neither Schneiderlin nor kondogbia is better than Le coq….they are all great players n may be on the same Level…….but i won’t consider em overshadowing our own coq……thank u!

          1. There is no actual way you watch anything other than Arsenal matches then. Coq has been great, but better than Schneiderlin?! If you really think that you’re just an unintelligent person. It is not even correct to have that opinion. You are just wrong.

            1. It is you Pizza man that is wrong. Coquelin is better. Give your own a chance to blossom. He only needs someone to support/deputise him; Not to replace him. Common!

        2. and pLease don’t mention carvalho…….he’s on flamini’s Level or way below

    2. Oops just realised I left out chamberlain, so scrap my last comment about the 25th place, sorry carvalho!!!

    3. Yes we have to always
      have the 25 man squad
      plus U21’s in mind when
      considering each position.
      I also think your analysis of
      the Walcott situation is sound.
      Personally I’d let him go now
      sit on the bench at City.
      Use the 25 mill to fund another
      striker and be done with it.

  5. for me if not buying a striker is what will make teo stay, my pleasure, I just can’t bear the pain of watching teo run our full backs down with his pace, and we tend to forget that he was our creator scorer and biggest weapon before his injury

  6. walcott as a new striker!…….Loads of excuses not to bring in an established striker in the summer(not to forget a Defensive support for Le coq and an extra versatile defender)…….if we mess up this window, then we could forget the EPL title for a very long time

    1. Excuses? Wow.. Wenger can’t even show faith in a proven previous performer on a comeback from injury without doomsdayers coming out.
      Extra versatile defender?? what?? 3 RB’s 3 CB’s 2 LB’s and Chambers as utility…
      Without looking it up name me 1, just 1 top 4 club in any league’s fourth choice CB who’s better than Chambers?

  7. Would love to see theo prove himself as a ST, but that’s the thing – he’s gotta prove it. Didn’t work that well last time he was put up there

  8. i Like walcott…..and i want him to stay…….but i put the needs of this great club 1st….. A striker and a D.m is a priority……..there are some players in this team worth offloading and loaning

  9. @josh… And before you troll my comment… By saying we need a versatile defender, I mean one who could play L.B as gibbs n monreal can’t go a season without an injury… Mert is aging, wenger haven’t played chambers at C.B for a very lon time even when he’s slow and sometimes woeful at R.B, Kos is Top class but he needs proper handling, debuchy have been getting frequently injured lately, Bellerin can’t do it all alone, that leaves us with gabriel who’s only just arrived and is getting used to the league…. So tell me we don’t need at least one more body

    1. I’m not trolling your comments. It’s just that no top club has six fullbacks!! it’s just way to much squad room for a position.
      If worse came to worse and both Monreal and Gibbs were injured, it would make a lot more sense to sign a defensive midfielder to cover Coquelin’s position and Coquelin is more than capable of locking down a flank as a third option

  10. Ain’t you all tired of this idea of people “trying out ‘…. Do you honestly think Theo will bag 30+ goals? Cz if we don’t buy a person who will then forget the title
    FFS what will we hear next?” Chambers will be the next holding midfielder so let’s not buy ”
    Fck that

    1. 30 goal season striker!! Calling for a 30 goal a season striker!! Where are you!?
      Ohhh Olivier, oh Theo!! Why don’t you just score 30 goals for us like all the other 30 goal a season strikers?? 30 goals, 30 goals, 30 goals neeeeeeed it!!

  11. Damn you Admin
    you had me
    soooo excited with
    the headline Wenger in
    contract talks with new striker.
    I should have realized Wenger
    would never say he is in talks
    with a new player this early 🙂
    Actually now you have me worried.
    Maybe Walcott is the new striker we are getting 🙁
    Hopefully its just a ploy to keep Walcott and lower prices for
    the real targets by saying we don’t need any one we have Walcott.
    A ruse to get Reus perhaps…ha ha
    I wanted to say that for a while now 🙂

  12. Playing Walcott as our striker will give us a different dimension, we will b tearing teams apart wid a front 3 full of pace trickery and goals, our attack will become very dynaminc, we will b hitting teams on counterattacks (giroud always slows d play because of his speed) and our midfield will flourish as Dey will find it easy to provide running passes and thru balls.

    1. That’s right he will put us back in the 4th(place) dimension… Another season with the whippet keeping out a world class attacking option will be another season when we again fail to challenge for EPL and cl …

      1. Tbh d main reason we suffered dis season was becos we didn’t buy a centre back at d start. Koscielny was injured and monreal had to deputise for him, and debuchy suffered 2 major injuries as well. So basically it was d defence dat cost us wich seems quite fixed now.

  13. wenger say he doesn’t want to miss walcott’s golder years ?
    what he’s really saying is he doesn’t want to miss cashing in walcott for the highest price! !
    the old dog pulling out some of his old tricks

    can’t see how walcott can step into the first eleven, considering the ox who’s not in the 1st elevan is better and stronger than him.

    1. saw right through it!! way to clever you are!!
      he couldn’t have possibly meant that he values Theo as a quality player and would like to keep him at the club

      1. good marketing
        drum up the market value and sell

        why would wenger wants to pay 120k-100k for a player either on the bench or in the recovery room?

        to pay that kind of money the player would be day in day out first eleven

        1. £100K a week is soon gonna be a standard “bench” wage if you want squad depth. Sad but true. Man U have had £800K p/w on the bench recently with RvP/AdM and RF. Nasri and Sagna polishing their arses for £140-200K pw. Personally I don’t like it but seems Wenger can’t win on this one – we “lack ambition” blah, blah but we want budget players on the fringes.

  14. Walcott wouldn’t be so woeful up top. Lacazette would fit our system perfectly. Has the Giroud qualities and can take on a defender as well if there’s no one to lay off the ball to.

  15. The usual bollocks from AW this time of year. No..of course we don’t need a striker
    As we have theo to run in behind (cause all teams play high line against us!) and bag us plenty goals (not scored more than 14 in his career). And then there is Danny!

    Certainly not what a ambitious coach/club would be stating IMO. But why am I surprised?

    hTeeTeeP://www.caughtoffside.com/2015/05/07/why-arsenal-have-to-swoop-to-replace-arsene-wenger-with-pep-guardiola-this-summer/

    1. What!? Caughtoffside say Wenger should leave!? is this the same reputable source who links us with half a billion dollars worth of transfer targets on a weekly basis!!
      Seriously i had no idea the situation was so severe. Arsenal board please heed caughtoffside’s warning!! act immediately!!

      1. no claim of done deals is mentioned there.

        The article only mirrors my own opinion which is to move forward things must change. And they will. Whether Pep (I hope so) or someone else you can depend on it happening.

        That’s all.

  16. Theo has excellent movement and his finishing appears to have improved over the years. I’d like to see him get a run up front, but I fear he’d work better in a two up top system and sadly that won’t happen with us. He’s a great option from the bench or playing in a counter game. Against United he may even be the better option up top :-O!

  17. L to R: Appearances, Goals, yellow card, red card.

    We all love a stat I’m sure. So is Theo suddenly gonna become prolific and help us win the titles? Durys out.

    2014/15 10 2 0 0
    2013/14 13 5 1 0
    2012/13 32 14 3 0
    2011/12 35 8 1 0
    2010/11 28 9 0 0
    2009/10 23 3 0 0
    2008/09 22 2 0 0
    2007/08 25 4 0 0
    2006/07 16 0 0 0
    2005/06 0 0 0 0
    Total 204 47

    1. Would be sensible to compare TW to other wide players. League goal/game ratios last 3 years.

      Walcott 0.40
      Hazard 0.36 (with pens)
      Nasri 0.13
      Willian 0.10
      Milner 0.09
      Young 0.09
      Navas 0.04

      Career figures for Robben and Ribery 0.37 and 0.24. Diego Costa’s career g/g ratio is 0.4.

      Can he be more prolific through the middle – I don’t know. Nor do you.

  18. We don’t need another top striker to stay in top 4, but we need one to fight for 1st and CL.

    For sake of argument, lets say Giroud is as good as Costa, Aguero, Van Persie, Falcao. Are Welbeck and Akpom equivalent to Remy, Drogba, Dzeko, Jovetic, Rooney?

    Or lets ask this in terms of forwards. Is Alexis, Walcott, Giroud as lethal as Hazard, Cuadrado, Costa? I Would give an edge to Chelsea

    I believe Ozil can perform better than Fabregas, Mata, etc. So for CAM we could have the best in the season next year

    But we need to increase the lethalness of our forwards. Two ways: 1. Sign another top striker like Lacazette, Cavani, Dybala, Martinez or even Benteke. 2. Sign another top versatile forward like Reus. Reus can play left, right, CAM and striker

    We just need one more DM and one more top attacker. Just two players to challenge because I guarantee you that United, Chelsea, City will strengthen big in the summer

  19. THE gambles of past yrs attest to fact that without signing it will be the same old same old arsenal. LeProf is a big joke if he is debating on buy/no buy. alexis will miss 2 to 3 weeks/+ nxt season start. we know wt injuries &recovry you can’t plan for success at arsenal. arsene must add numbers and be seen to have done it well. knowing the sum reason of not getting the title this and last season is fewer goals to win matches that were lost or drawn when winnable.

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