ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:ARSENE WENGER has declared Theo Walcott is finally ready to play as a striker for Arsenal, increasing the likelihood of the 23-year-old spurning admirers such as Liverpool and Juventus and agreeing to stay at the Emirates Stadium.
Walcott’s contract with Arsenal expires at the end of this season and he has so far rejected the club’s offers of a new deal because he is frustrated at being stationed either on the wings or the bench. But his hat-trick in Tuesday’s extraordinary 7-5 League Cup victory at Reading has proved a powerful piece of negotiation, convincing Wenger that now is the time to deploy the player in his preferred position.
“He was superb,” said Wenger of Walcott’s display at the Madejski. “I’ve always said that he will be a striker so we are on the same wavelength there.”
Concerns about Walcott’s decision-making and finishing are usually cited as the reasons for Wenger’s reluctance to entrust him with striking duty, but the manager believes the player has developed the qualities required for the role, with each of his goals at Reading showcasing crucial attributes.
“First of all, he is a good finisher now, as you saw from the way he scored the first goal,” said Wenger, delighting at the way Walcott calmly lifted the ball over Adam Federici after racing away from defenders to collect a pass from Andrey Arshavin.
“And the second thing is he knows where to be in a box for the rebounds. I like that because that’s a quality of strikers that you cannot give to anybody; you either feel it or your don’t. Yes, he has the qualities to play as a striker.”
Asked whether the player will be given the opportunity to display those qualities for Arsenal on a regular basis rather than have to move in search of satisfaction, Wenger replied: “That’s what I hope. I’ve always said that I want to keep him.”
Wenger’s pledge of faith in Walcott raises the possibility that he could start up front against Manchester United on Saturday, in direct competition with Robin van Persie, the player whom he aspires to succeed as Arsenal’s primary goal-getter.
So far this season, no one has looked truly capable of filling the hole left by the Dutchman, who struck 37 times for Arsenal last season. Olivier Giroud has only recent begun to find the net and done so only once in the Premier League, while Gervinho, despite being the side’s top league scorer with three goals, has been wasteful and, anyway, is set to miss the next month through injury.
Arsenal were the third-highest scorers in the Premier League last season but are currently joint-sixth this term, behind Everton and Fulham and level with Swansea and Southampton.
Walcott has not started a league game since the 0-0 draw with Sunderland on the opening day of the campaign and when he has been introduced from the bench, it has been as a winger, a position that he considers he has outgrown.
He gave an emphatic demonstration at Reading of how dangerous he is playing off the shoulder of defenders, and while doubts may linger about his technique in tight spaces, his physical strength and his ability consistently to make the right decisions, the player is adamant that he has earned the right to be given a chance to prove he is the man for the job. If not at Arsenal, then elsewhere.
Walcott and his representatives are scheduled to have a final round of negotiations with the club this month and, although Walcott has insisted that money is not his main motivation, Wenger even hinted that he may ask the club to improve the reported €93,237 -per-week offer that Walcott rejected last month. “I will talk to my finance minister,” he quipped.
Guardian Service
