Theo Walcott says he’ll pick up his contract negotiations with Arsenal when he returns from international duty and hinted the process will take time.
The 26-year-old is out of contract at the end of next season leaving Arsene Wenger with seven months to tie him down to a new deal before he becomes a free agent.
Speaking to Sky Sports at yesterday’s FA Cup trophy parade, the England international gave a brief update on his talks with the club hinting at a positive outcome.
“I am sure things will get resolved. I just want to enjoy today.
“I have got England coming up and then we can think about that process, but it will take time, I am sure.”
Obviously still buzzing from his goal on Saturday, Walcott – who has been at the club since January 2006 – also touched on the strength in depth that the Gunners now have at their disposal.
“We want to do this [victory parades] more and more for these guys [the supporters] because they deserve it and this group of players deserve it,” he told Arsenal.com.
“I’ve been here for a long time and this is the best group.
He continued: “It’s weird how things come to place, scoring the goal with my left foot, which was the leg I had an issue with.
“I’ve worked really hard, not just me, everyone behind the scenes that nobody gets to see, the support and the faith that the manager’s had in me.
“The fans have been incredible as well. We need to remember the players who all contributed to the run to the final, it wasn’t just about the players who played, it’s almost a whole squad here. It’s a family thing and it means as lot to everyone.”
Have always struggled with Theo but fair play to him. He’s scored some big goals and now the 1st in a cup final.
Hope he stays and I would not of said that a month ago.
He actually scored is first ever Arsenal goal in a cup final: League Cup vs. Chelsea, 2007
what an amazingly exciting young squad that carling cup side were. nearly came to fisticuffs that game too right? not theo obviously, heavens no. diaby prob, denilson.
I think Mike meant that Theo has scored some important goals in his time, the most recent of which was Arsenal’s first goal in the FA Cup Final 2015.
Either way, I hope Theo stays, he’s an FA Cup winner after all.
What are they smoking at Anfield? http://www.espnfc.com/story/2476420/liverpool-would-sanction-sterling-swap-for-walcott-and-gibbs
No way in hell I’d make that trade. Honestly, I wouldn’t trade Walcott for Sterling straight up. I think Sterling is a great footballer, but extremely overrated. But maybe I just haven’t seen enough of him.
THEO THEO THEO !
Time for fans to sing ‘Sign the Ting’ again.
Would always prefer him over 30m waste Sterling
He implied he’ll be staying pretty heavily with his interview on the podium yesterday, with a cheeky smile. Nothing to worry about.
“The best group of player he has ever played/worked with and intends to play/work with” he said. Great feelimg it was made me smile.
Walcott’s just a good businessman. It’ll be the same thing as last time around, he’ll sign a contract sooner or later but it’ll be on his terms. He knows what he’s worth and will make sure he gets what he’s worth. When you have someone like Theo negotiating with someone like Wenger things are going to take a while even when everyone knows what the ultimate outcome is going to be a signed contract at some point. They’re both that guy who always lowballs the other team in Football Manager by 5% even if it drags out the negotiations by… Read more »
its such talk from Theo that makes people annoyed. we just won the cup, couldn’t you just sign da bloody ting!?!!
”The fans have been incredible as well”, hmmm, Had Theo known what some fans were saying about him, he wouldn’t say that.
Think about his goal return after injuries. I have always defended the guy.
Too much positivity on both sides for him not to sign.
Looking forward to the golden years.
I’m pretty sure Özil starts drooling when he thinks of the ball at his feet and Alexis, Theo, and Ox all making runs on the break.
And then he remembers Ox and Theo will miss every easy chance lol
His first champions league game played as a striker…. scored a brace (slavia prague 7-0)….first game as a striker in the 2007 league cup final….scores the first goal…..4-0 down against reading,plays as a striker….hattrick, wins us the frickin game…..Newcastle in the league, plays as a striker….hattrick….first game after being humiliatingly dropped from the senior england squad against soon-to-be under 21 European champions Germany….scores a brace…..as a striker (England win 2-0)….plays as a striker against rottenham…..sticks two fingers up em…..and Wenger plays him ad a winger for nine years. ….hmmmmm
When he ripped Chelsea and Spurs
He played as a RW i guess
Selective memory much?
@ Jagger…er…that’s kinda what you do when you’re trying to make a historic point…select from memory….
A historic point conveniently forgetting the times when Walcott at ST was an absolute shitfest? My problem with your original comment was that Walcott has been tried at ST several times throughout his career, as so perfectly remembered by your recollection, so your assertion that Wenger plays him as winger for 9 years is wrong. Also, he has had some excellent games and some anonymous games. Just because he played brilliantly in the last two as striker should not mean that we question why he isn’t being played there all the time, just like after a poor performance we should… Read more »
Brilliant how you gave some SOLID EXAMPLES….here’s one for you…..name TWO…..just two….If you’re gonna come up with smart arse retorts, have the cohones to back them up!…I’m banking on the pretty obvious fact that you probably thought for a while and couldn’t even think of one, and even if you did, it would be an exercise in futility naming JUST THAT ONE!
Yeah. ..not like Thierry ever struggled there for a few games in the beginning….or Robin. …and funny how the examples given were all in pretty big games…
And funny how Theo’s managed to score, as a striker, in the two finals he’s played for us….Thierry never even managed to do it in SEVEN for us…the times Wenger played him ad a striker it was always through injury and expedience. Saturday wad the first time it was by choice…..hmmmmm indeed
Not like Thierry ever struggled there for the first few months…..or Robin….funny also how Theo has managed, in his first two games, to do what Thierry never managed to do in SEVEN…..score in a major final, as a striker, for the Arsenal….funny also how the examples given where in big games. …and yet Jagger can’t get no satisfaction…..hmmmmm indeed.
Am gonna call Wilshere as “The Rattle Snake” from now on…
Since he has RATTLED the whole sp*r’s fan base yesterday
:D:D
What do we think of this joke?
SHIT:D:D
And what do we think of sh*t?
Tottenham
Careful gandalf, before sky sports labels this thread is an ‘foul-mouthed outburst’.
As* damn it.
To be fair, the phrase “Your mum supports Tottenham” is a foul mouthed outburst.
Well I hope this contract issue gets resolved quickly because it definitely will impact our transfers.
For a player who wants to secure starts and playing time, is suspect that may not be lost on Theo and his Mr 10%.
But as mentioned above, that is smart business – for Theo. I may not like that it could cause complications, but I can’t fault a guy for having the desire to secure his place so long as he keeps up proving it in the performances.
Don’t be greedy and sign the contract.
Or go.
Not essential but definitely good to have in the squad… With Welbeck’s inconsistent form and injury prone nature it’s definitely worthwhile to have an alternative to Giroud.
Having said that we’re no longer in a position to be held ransom over stupid wage demands – if he’s asking for $200k+ than flog him off to Man City.
Hater!
Walcott deserves around 100k a week. That’s the going rate now for a player like him. I’m pretty sure Walcott would love to stay at Arsenal forever, but it is the negotiators we have who screw it up for us. Ashley Cole was an Arsenal lad through and through but for the sake of 5k a week extra we let him go Chelsea for CHEAP, AND we took the pile of dung Gallas.
If our negotiators are smart they’ll give him what he wants within reason and FAST.
Please don’t compare that scumbag to someone who seems like a genuinely good person.
While I understand Arsenal’s wage structure, if Theo would go next year on free, then he would be able to get way, way more than 100k, especially if he adds a couple of performances like the last two – just the fact that you save 20m on the transfer gives you 100k/pw…
No, we can’t afford to put everyone on 200k a week. I reckon he’ll get a bump up, but the guy is right that if he’s asking for stupid money then we shouldn’t pay.
I know it’s hard to accept that we smply can’t do what City/Chelsea and even United can do, especially when everything is so good, but it doesn’t stop it from being fact.
“if our negotiators are smart they’ll give him what he wants”
doesn’t that negate the purpose of a negotiator…
I think that Theo will stay and I personally hope he does. I can see him getting better the more he plays centrally. having him, Danny Welbeck and the Big Handsome Frenchman gives us lots of options.
There is a possibility of signing no-one. We are happier with the keepers and the forwards than even a couple of weeks ago. Arteta and Flamini are staying for at least another year.
Let’s chill and wait and see.
As I’ve said before, I hope Theo stays. He gives us something different. With his performances in our final two games of the season, Walcott has done his case a world of good. He gave Villa a ton of trouble on Saturday and scored an excellent opening goal. The only problem with signing him might be his agent’s stupid wage demands. With the depth of quality in our midfield he can’t expect to play every week, but coming off the bench he can be devastating. I prefer him out wide, but as we saw on Saturday he can play as… Read more »
“And he gives us the one thing that Giroud doesn’t: pace.”. Also how about making decent runs in the box. Ozil cannot be his best when the striker is facing his back towards the goal. Make no mistake, Giroud is best with link up play, but i think we need something different.
Good comment but lacking one key phrase – ” … we need something different FROM TIME TO TIME”. There are many opponents against whom Giroud up front with Alexis and Theo on the wings is an ideal option. Ozil then has the choice of passing to the wingers directly, or passing to Giroud to lay it off to the wingers. That’s an awfully difficult setup to defend against.
Good Lord, am I ever pissed off that we never once got to see that front four. Against weak teams sitting back, you put Santi-Rambo behind them, and against stronger ones, one comes out for Coq. Santi plays a 30 yard pass to OG, who lays it off to Ozil, who makes the killer cutting pass to either Theo or Alexis, who then either score, cross to the other, or cut it back to the late charging Rambo.
Agreed.
I see him as switching places with Alexis and the other strikers to try to do the maximum damage. He has scored in left, right and centre positions in the last two matches.
why can’t we play a 4-4-2 ? Giroud for hold up play and walcott to run through to those passes ozil, santi and sanchez running around cuasing amok in midfield and coquelin/ramsey/wilshere/DM? cleaning up behind them. bombing runs by our wing backs can cover for the space on the wings. time to revolutionise football again Arsene!! COYG
P.S. Suffering petrol scarcity here in Nigeria and a station manager helped me get petrol cos we were both Gunners : one big family
Wenger playing Theo against WBA was a great move. “You want a final start? Well you have 1 and only 1 chance to justify it”. The rest is now history.
I really hope Theo signs as it would be a shame to miss out on his best years after having him at the club for a long time. I really hate this nonsense about it taking time…… and needs to concentrate on England games first ………not just from Theo but players in general. Its ridiculous- footballers only spend a very small fraction of their time actually playing- its not like he is doing an 80 hour week and coming home knackered, no time to spare. They have agents/all year to discuss what needs discussed. I dont understand why this line… Read more »
Whatever salary he is truly worth, he can be paid more because there’s no £30M expense to buy him. Walcott at £200,000 per week is cheaper than Sterling at £125,000 per week. Besides, Walcott is a man I the field…Sterling is a boy.
Walcott at 200,000 is cheaper in isolation but what about the rest of the squad? Sugar daddies are inflating the market enough without our help.
true…but in reality if this is the way to operate all players would run their down contracts and be on massive (potentially unsustainable) wages by the same rationale. And i don’t think players who use a bit of brinkmanship should earn more than players who sign in advance.
Theo wants this sorted this summer if possible. He has been injured enough to know that if he tries to run down his contract but gets a serious injury (ACL or a Diaby ankle) then his value drops like a stone. Better to get 125k per week than hold out for 150k a week with the risk it could drop to sub 50k per week.
Still more per week than most people get per year.
For all the talk of Wenger looking to sign a striker like Jackson Martinez, I don’t see him doing so if he resigns Walcott as he seems to feel the combination of Giroud, Welbeck, Walcott, Sanchez, Sanogo and even Akpom is surely sufficient (though most will feel as I do that we need a top line striker that can be more of a combination of what Giroud brings with hold up play and solid finishing with the agility and speed of any of our other choices). Of course Walcott can play on the wing too where he primarily has, but… Read more »
Good comment until you mentioned sanogo
What are his options anyway? Man City? Liverpool? Chelsea? He’s smart enough to know Arsenal is the place for him. It’s also understandable that he’s trying to get as much money from the club as he can… Why not?
Because it’s unsustainable.
It wasn’t long ago people were taking the piss out of Man United for paying Falcao £250k per week.
£200k for Walcott is overpriced. I’d rather pay it to Ramsey or the Ox.
£100k is realistic.
If it’s a disagreement over playing time, he needs to do a lot more to my mind before he holds anyone to ransom.
Does anyone outside the club know the figure he’s asking for is 200k?
Or is 200k just a figure plucked from the air by a lazy hack journalist?
After Theo’s previous contract saga, I sense another lengthy dispute before an agreement is reached. No doubt Theo will be advised by his representatives to hold out for the best possible deal they can attain. Unfortunately, Arsenals stance on Theo’s contract, or any players contract for that matter is weakened when you go from 12 months remaining to 6 months remaining. And Arsenal’s position is again drastically weakened when it goes from 6 months remaining to end of contract. I predict a stubbornness to budge from both parties, and then a resolution, whatever that be, in January.
He loves playing for The Arse, he isn’t going anywhere.
And about that rubbish of Walcott to Liverpewl! Made me laugh. Although he is childhood Liverpool fan but no one want to go there these days. Suarez couldn’t wait to get out of there, Sanchez didn’t want to go and Sterling wants to get away. Theo seems to be a sensible man and won’t go a mid table team.
The FA cup win and his success through the middle will likely translate to an extension for Walcott. It most likely will also mean we will not be adding a CF /striker in the summer. Contrary to popular opinion and the facile media Giroud is an effective striker with a goal per games played ratio equivalent to “world class” Benzema or the 32.7m rated Benteke. He has been steadily improving his percentage over the last 3 seasons. Welbeck (23yrs) is a young striker who like Walcott, Ramsey and Coquelin will improve. Walcott adds a different dimension. We have had 110… Read more »
Love theo, knowing he was seriously injured he still gave his 2 nil response under pelters from the spuds to show his love for our club, he has worked his way back in to the team warming his backside from the bench without the need of slagging the manager, shissa pipes, fags, nightclubs, all in all a great pro, a proven asset to our team, whether he plays outright or middle we need him sign, apart from 1 more up front maybe Berinhinio, not convinced about cech/snederlien, we are looking a strong and happy camp
ok…quick season recap..as always we have suffered record amount of injuries.. and if you check the record, with a full strength arsenal team, we have lost very few matches.
for the summer, i dont think we can expect a lot.. the team has the potential..alexis is already synced in with the team..we just need to start off just the way we have finished it.. the team chemistry is there..our bench is already stacked..
Theo came back from injury and scored 4 important goals in two games