Walcott To Leave
Cue the transfer madness at Arsenal. It’s all based around Theo Walcott and his apparent refusal to sign a new contract with the club. He has less than 12 months left on his deal, Arsenal face the prospect of losing him on a free transfer and for that reason alone his departure would not be a surprise.
Do you sell now for millions of pounds or write off that money to retain the services of a player who is clearly not 100% committed the club? That’s a no-brainer. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. Arsenal under Stan Kroenke have shown that they won’t be emotionally blackmailed by players. They will do what they think is the best thing for the club regardless of how it appears in the papers or what the fan reaction might be. Despite the comments that frustrated fans like me might make, should Arsenal allow themselves to be held to ransom by any player? If they wouldn’t take RVP’s crap I seriously doubt Walcott is going to have much luck either.
To put it bluntly; I think Walcott is rubbish.
On his day he can be devastating. His pace is a great weapon, his finishing is good and he can exploit space behind teams who play high up the pitch. When it’s not his day though, well, he’s dire. It’s easy to spot him; he’s the player that keeps running up the wing having forgotten to take the ball with him. He’s also the player that can’t cross the ball to him team-mates in the unlikely event that he manages to keep it at his feet for more than five seconds.
Some sources say Arsenal are offering him £75,000 a week, and again we hear the cries of how we should pay our best players what they deserve. Yet is £75,000 a week not sufficient for a player who freely admits that he’s only ‘consistent in patches’?
With Walcott’s departure it would offer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a real chance to cement a first team place. While not ignoring Walcott’s blinding pace, something every team needs, a player at this level needs more than that.
I’d be quite comfortable if Walcott were to depart, however, it is paramount that we find a replacement, even if AOC can fill that gap. Even if he stayed I wanted to see improvement in the wide areas and that’s obviously the case if he goes. What it looks like is, as I mentioned earlier, not really a concern for Arsenal, but to lose Song, van Persie and Walcott in one summer does suggest something of a problem. If we sell Theo and bring in a good quality replacement I think most people would be relatively happy but with just three full days to go until the window closes this makes that a bit more difficult.
