Theo Walcott has signed for Everton in a deal believed to be worth in excess of £20m.
The 28-year-old joined Arsenal from Southampton in January 2006, aged just 16. Although he had yet to even play a first team game for the club, such was the hype around him that Sven Goran Eriksson included him in the England squad for the World Cup that summer – Walcott did not make an appearance at the tournament however.
He made his Arsenal debut as a 73rd-minute substitute on the opening day of the 2006-07 season when the Gunners drew 1-1 with Aston Villa in the first ever game at the Emirates Stadium.
Since then he’s gone on to make 399 appearances for the club, scoring 108 goals, including the opener in the 2015 FA Cup final win over Aston Villa at Wembley.
This season, however, he’s been very much on the fringes of the first team, barely featuring at all in the Premier League, and with a World Cup to place to play for this summer a move to get regular football makes perfect sense both him and for Arsenal.
His final appearance came in Sunday’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth when he was introduced as a late replacement for Alex Iwobi, but was unable to mark the occasion with one last goal.
He was a frustrating player, one perhaps emblematic of the second half of Arsene Wenger’s reign – moments of genuine excitement and quality but ultimately potential not fully realised – but he did score some excellent goals for us down the years, and best of luck to him at Everton (except when he plays us on 3 February).
Good Luck Theo!!
Theo the Spuds up the road are asking what the score is again.
Ah, that might have been his finest moment in the shirt.
The almost man in an almost wenger’s team. I didn’t like his attitude in the last two negotiations with the club, frustrated fans with his offside, but he did score some good goals in his time. Wish he did more at the Arsenal. But 100+ goals is something to be proud about.
Wish you the best Theo, hope you do well at Everton and go to the WC this year. But always bring your crap game against the Arsenal.
Why has this again turned into a slagging Wenger off thread? It started so nicely, yet it always dissolves into it. Maybe just maybe we should just appreciate a player we’ve had for 12 years and wish him good luck?
So long, and thanks for the fish theo
This is what the Porpoise Masters Silvestre and Diarra said on their way out of Arsenal.
But yeah, thanks Theo. It’s been a weird twelve years, but you’ve been a good lad throughout. Good luck at Everton!
Truth is, players are no longer improving under Wenger… Look at Chamberlain…
Why the thumbs down? Name one player who has actually improved under Wenger in the past few seasons?
Every players has gone down. Those who have stayed at the top level want to leave. #TrueStory
Bellerin the biggest example. Was a top prospect a few seasons ago, has gone down drastically.
Also I think the club should have had one of those clauses put into Theo’s contract that when Arsenal play Everton in Feb, he MUST be part of the XI. Everton playing with 10 men would be a big help.
Alexis Sanchez
Mesut Özil
In response to two posts above – Sanchez and Ozil both want leave. They were both very good when they came here already. Name someone who wasn’t already a developed player and Wenger made him a better player in the past few seasons?
Also I don’t expect any concrete names. Just some thumb downs in frustration from the WengerIn camp.
Laurent Koscielny
fabregas, van persie, even Song improved. he was shite at one point
Lucas Perez?
His bench warming improved
Kim Kallstrom
Oops no. He was SIGNED with a broken back.
His back improved under Wenger!
Oxlade-Chamberlain definitely improved. As did Gnabry before his injury struck. Sagna, Mertesacker, and more.
But the biggest and best case in my opinion is Monreal. Everyone seems to forget that we signed him for peanuts in a January window, because Gibbs was injured. His brief stint at center really molded him into a solid EPL defender with technical offensive skills.
Thanks Damo . Some need it explained
Aaron Ramsey. Nacho Monreal
nelson Vivas
This is such an idiotic comment that I don’t even know why I bother replying. Alexis was an obscure player who could only sit on the bench at Barca, Mesut was in decline, Belerin was not good enough at Barca and now they want him back, same with Fabregas earlier; took him for free and made 50 mil on him. Not to mention the more obvious ones that others named. Every single player improved under Wenger. That some lack character like Alexis, and like some of our fans, that’s beyond Wenger to help. The old adage “you cannot buy class”… Read more »
In his three seasons at Barcelona, Alexis played 141 games, scoring 47 goals and making 36 assists. That’s not obscure.
Bellerin left Barcelona at the age of 16, snapped by Arsenal the way we snapped up Fabregas.
Ozil was 24 when he left Real Madrid, players are not in decline at that age and he was widely considered one of the most creative talents in European football.
Still, I’m sure the sky is a lovely colour in your world.
You really think Sanchez imrpoved under Wenger?
Laughable and delusional.
he did. I was depressed when he signed for us as i thought he was Kak at barcelona. Then he and wenger proved me wrong. till he started to lose ball 30+ times a game.
Thats probably more to do with your lack of knowledge about what happens outside England than any objective reality.
Just see his stats at Barcelona.
I lived in Barcelona 2 years ago and my Spanish workmates all thought they had mugged us by getting £35 mil for him.
“All bark and no nuts”
“Needs four or five chances to score”
“Ahhh, get away from me you cretin”
As far as I remember he couldnt get a place in the team ahead of Pedro.
I have this nagging feeling that this one is going to come back and bite us at some point.
Good luck Theo, hope you get your world cup place.
TC
That’s easy.
Nacho Monreal
Koscielny (before father time got a hold of him this year)
Rob Holding
Coquelin (remember that he almost never got a chance with us)
Still too early to tell: Jack 2.0 and Ozil when on defense
I’d also add Giroud.
Giroud was top scorer in la ligue before we signed him. Scoring mostly from assists from the wings. We play him and have no width.
Oh of course. His hold up play has improved and obviously his hair.
you mean ligue un.
Yeah ta. All a bit rushed. Only watch english games live. Check arrivals on youtube.
Chamberlain improved last season but, for the most part, he just suits Liverpool better stylistically. Sanchez improved, Ozil has improved, Bellerin has improved despite what some may say, Ramsey and Wilshere have turned in to top players under Wenger, Koscielny improved, Monreal has improved or, at the very least, become more consistent with us. I’m not denying for a second Wenger isn’t regressing as a manager but it’s frankly boring how everything is used as a stick to beat the manager over the head with now.
Players are improving heh? So much so that we dropped out of Champions League, are now >20 points from 1st and almost double digits from fourth. Knocked out of the FA Cup by Nottingham etc.
Do you guys watch the same Arsenal I see?
You must see the world in black and black.
Nope. I see it as it is. 6th place. Do you think Arsenal have improved over the last few seasons? If so, why do we keep on sliding down the table?
because sometimes you may improve, but other teams improve faster? doesn’t have to be a case of us getting worse for us to slide down.
Honestly, do you not see football that happens outside England? Or is it all worthless to you.
Just do yourself a favor and see the stats for Ozil and Sanchez before they came to Arsenal.
Ozil dont score goals before joining us. Ozil has neva had 19 assists in a single season despite playing alongside world class attackers. Ozil do not also mark prior to joining us. Sanchez was being benched for Pedro and even at barca did not contribute 35 goals and assists in a season. If he was that good, why did arsenal not have top teams (except liverpool) rivaling them for his signature?
Monreal
Maitland Niles has improved. You cannot be disingenuous. What about Jack, he has come back solid after Wenger sent him on loan. sure you can credit Eddie Howe but the manager recognised the need to strengthen Jack’s defensive side and made the correct decision to have him play regularly with the Cherries. That’s good man management. Giroud has also improved tremendously as has MOnreal over the last couple of seasons. Ozil’s game has got better this season. Reiss Nelson is breaking through. I dare say Jeff is the next one to watch, impressive for Under 23s. We have issues but… Read more »
So why are we 6th if all these players have improved? Why can’t we beat Bournemouth, West Brom or Nottingham?
Because winning football matches is a bit more complicated than a handful of players showing promise?
Arsenal have regressed over the last few seasons, yet some are claiming Arsene has ‘improved’ just about every player that’s currently in the squad, but yet Arsenal keeps on going backwards.
There’s a massive disconnect between the two, wouldn’t you say
Backwards and forwards are relative things. Look at the number of points historically scored in the EPL by ALL teams in the past ten years, and you will understand how both can be true simultaneously. It’s very clear.
Imagine two cars, moving on a highway. You’re in Car A, and Car B is going slightly faster. Compared to Car B, it will look like your Car A will be moving backwards. In fact, it hasn’t slowed down at all, it just hasn’t… kept up.
COYG.
“Backwards and forwards are relative things.”
Have we gone backwards or forwards this year?
Jack asked to go on loan, had nothing to do with Wenger other than agreeing to the request.
could be related to Bellerin wanting to leave last summer?
I don’t think Ozil has improved since he came here due to the different league style and already being outstanding at Madrid anyway.
Sanchez, maybe/maybe not he was already a top top player at Barca but has got more playing time here.
The players like Walcott and Chambers and others were injured frequently, that hinders progress too.
See above..
Stop using every article to dig at Wenger. This is about Theo Walcott, and I wish him well. Although left on 399.. he’ll be gutted about that.
There are no ‘digs’. Just stating facts. In Wenger’s big festival of mediocrity and living happily in your comfortzone that is Arsenal football club, players don’t improve.
The problem is you are not actually stating facts. ..if you want to talk about finishing lower in the table, thats a fact. but then you also have to look at other facts, like total points, goals scored, goals against.. and on and on. there are plenty of reasons for them finishing lower in the table, including Wenger, the board, ownership, bad contract management, conservative values, Wenger’s stubbornness, Wenger’s loyalty, injuries, other teams spending shit tons of money while we stick to some ideals that may or may not be outdated. We like to think things are black and white,… Read more »
Do you have a place in DC that’s good for watching matches?
Sure lets start solving the problems one by one then. Wenger you listed first so lets start with that. Sack him.
Agreed.
Spot on. Wenger has killed more careers than injuries have.
The list is long
Why are so many fans here so obsessed with revisionism and just missing the point. Firstly, yes players did use to improve under Wenger and maybe Koscielny was the last really standout case of that. Those saying Sanchez and Ozil improved at Arsenal sadly are the same people who say Messi is not good enough until he does it at Stoke. Sanchez was scoring plenty of goals at Barcelona (despite limited opportunities). In his last season he had 19 goals and 10 assists from 27 starts. And over his years at Madrid, Ozil was the second biggest creator in Europe… Read more »
Nearly a great player but too many weaknesses to be so. Still I’d be happy having scored 100 goals for Arsenal.
Good luck Theo, except against us.
Nearly a good player more like. Great was way way way beyond his reach.
Thank you for your stay. But it’s time to move on. Both you and Arsenal
Bye.
Good luck Elder Theophilus
Good luck Theo, will be welcomed home to the Emirates I hope.
Absolutely- there is no reason not to give him a warm and respectful welcome.
Thank you Theo. Good luck at Everton will, always remember that CL goal at pool. No more Ox , no more Walcott, no more Coquelin , no more Gibbs, all the Wenger’s boys are off .Signs that a new era is fast approaching.
Weren’t they a shit 90s pop group?
No they were John’s nephew’s. John from Jamaica.
Adebayor scored but what a run that was from Theo. Electric.
And no one is more relieved than Andre Marriner
Now Theodore has gone, who is the longest serving player at the club?
Jack,i think?
Absolutely no bad blood here. Thanks for the 100+ goals and good luck Theo, just not against us.
It just wouldn’t be a goals compilation video without really shitty backing music would it?
As for Theo, I don’t think I’ve ever found an Arsenal player quite as infuriating as he was. I can’t recall how many times while chatting in the Arseblog Liveblog I’ve had a good old rant about how shit he is, just for him to score minutes later.
He was a good enough player as long as he didn’t have time to think about what he was doing.
I couldn’t agree more. Theo was a great finisher when it had to be instinctive. The amount of times he had half a pitch to run he would inevitably just pass it back to the opposition goalkeeper or hit it wide. My biggest memory of him though will be the amount of times he either ran off without the ball or just fell over it instead. Good luck to him though, he always came across as a very decent person which is more than you can say for lots of other footballers.
Like many others, the thing I will most remember about Theo, apart from his great pace, was his 2-0 hand gesture to the Spurs supporters as he was being carried off the pitch.
I was there that day! I don’t go often so that match is still my absolute highlight as a fan. Rosickys goal, Walcott taking the piss, and that was the start of our FA cup run. Just magical.
One of the few occasions Theo looked unstoppable, too.
… But probably the game that did stop him in his tracks. He was never really given the opportunity to shine again. Disappeared a la Reyes and Vela.
Perhaps too much of a gentleman, but it was the Vardy type game that would have suited him and that Everton may now try him in.
Safe to say I don’t think Theo will be slagging his former club.
Good luck.
Don’t forget his goal against Newcastle as well!
Seriously I don’t see us signing anyone before Saturday so are we literally going to have enough players for the pitch and bench?!
Ramsey is back. LANS
Akpom will be LANS.
Gett in!
Knew it was coming.
Prayed it would happen.
Surprised now that I feel a bit gutted.
Thanks Theo.. you needed to be used in a very specific way that didn’t suit possession based football. Hope you bag another coffee machine for the toffees.
Not on the Official site yet….
It didn’t work out as expected but we have many memories to remember him by, scored some great goals for us down the years, Good luck to him and his future at Everton.
Best thing for both the club and Theo. Probably came a year and a half later than it should have, but the desperately needed cleaning out process has finally started.
Almost 110 goals, 70-something assists. That’s almost a goal contribution every other game. Not many wingers can boast that rate. A lot of people say ‘what has he done in 11 years?’. Many seem to forget that this 11 years spell included a 5 year period where he was only 16-21 years old – still learning his trade as a winger (especially having spent his youth career being striker). Yet despite all this, he is averaging 1 goal contribution per 2 games. Not a baller by any stretch, but definitely a smart player. Doesn’t suit arsenal’s sideways passing anymore. He… Read more »
Good luck to you Theodore. Thanks for the goals and great memories. Especially those goals against sP*rs.. happy times. Good luck mate
4 years too late but it’s finally happened. Good riddance.
Ive been a big detractor of Theo ever since he came. It was obvious from the start that he struggles to have control of a football and has no idea where he should be stationed at any one time. If these things were obvious to some of us 12 years ago, why has Wenger persisted in trying to play him in a football side rather than using him for the one and only thing he isn’t good at which is running on to balls slid through the defence to get a chance to finish? As a result we have seen… Read more »
Best of luck Theo.
I sincerely wish Theo all the best. And i hope he uses these next few years to reach the potential he has always had (just don’t do it against us!). There is a talented player in there somewhere.
Another 2-0 gesture in the Merseyside derby would be welcome Theo.
i think theo has conducted himself with a lot of dignity. no whinging or moaning. he never really convinced. hope he goes well at everton and gets his world cup squad place. good move for arsenal. finally we are moving on the under achievers.
Good luck at Everton Theo. Continue being consistent in patches.
I don’t think any Arsenal supporter can be upset with this sale. Getting over 20 million and losing the wages for a player that was hardly playing and when he did play wasn’t contributing is great business. Wenger has really changed his song (or others are making him) the last 8 months or so selling Gabriel, Chamberlin, Walcott, Coquelin and soon to be Sanchez (and possibly Giroud, who knows) which should allow us to really be aggressive in bringing new players in. The old wasn’t working so good to see we are potentially refreshing the squad. Yet to be seen… Read more »
Good piece of business there. It’s good for Everton and we get a pretty decent fee all things considered.
I hope we don’t buy Aubemayang. He seems to be a bit of a twat. I’m sure he’d inject some excitement into the team, but also where would Laca play on the wing? Would Aubameyang play down the left? Or would AW go with two up top.
Makes much more sense to me to buy a younger player with potential like Malcom, keep Laca up top, and FINALLY give a few games to Reiss Nelson in the front 3.
Malcom is under disciplinary sanctions by his club after posting videos of him and friends laughing… the day of a Xth loss of Bordeaux. Btw, he played 90 minutes yesterday but could do nothing to prevent Caen to win 2-0 in Bordeaux… not one single action… Nothing… yeah, great prospect…
Do you. It think it interesting that a video was taken the same day as the club president said it would be difficult to get him? The agent has arranged it I imagine. At the same time, perhaps he was just walking out of the ground and his mate said something funny and he laughed. Rumour is it does happen.
I never really saw him fit into our style of play. Or at least the style we once had. But hey… that’s not on him. Thank you for all the goals, significant form increase very time contract was up and some snappy legs. And please… let’s sign some new players!!! If we give them long enough contracts they might even outlast Wenger. Who know… 🙂
I’m not sure I want to sign any more players until we have a manager who figures out how to use the ones we’ve got instead of just moving them on.
Nice name Mate.
Cheers
Good luck to him. Always comes across as an absolute gent, which is rare in football these days. Just lacked that bit of footballing intelligence to be a really top player : he just didn’t see things happening as often as he should have.
Good luck Theo. Thanks for the goals and great memories. Especially those goals against sp*rs….good time. Good luck mate.
Great for Everton and big Sam. They may find a system to employ Theo to his best and get a lot of goals out of him. With the way Everton play, they will have to counter a lot and Theo’s pace married with Rooney’s cunning and diving abilities may grab them goals. This is why I mentioned Aubameyang with his goal scoring record may not be suited for what we need presently. Superficially it makes sense, one of the Bundesliga top scorers comes in to add the ruthlessness we need but we just added one of the most consistent strikers… Read more »
I’m going to applaud him and chant his name one last time when Everton visit in a couple weeks.
All those keyboard warriors wishing him good riddance, show some class & dignity, or at least come down to the North Bank chant those sentiments to his face.
Finally signed da ting
Sorry to see him go, wish him the best
Good luck, Theo. I think this is one of those deals which will turn out well for everyone involved. It’s still a little sad to see players like him leave but it should be better for his career, while Arsenal have money to use and Everton have a player who should really lift them.
Did you see that loooooooooodicrous display last night?
Thanks for the goals and your efforts Theo…….but as Gunnerblog would say BAH BYE
I wasn’t always his greatest admirer but,
Thank You Theo !
This is strangely more emotional than I thought it would be.
That season was the season I first became a fan. He’s the last player from that side to leave or retire. End of an era for me. A shit era but an era none the less.
Wenger and Welbeck must follow immediately.
Good luck Theo. Good guy. 2-0✌️?
He was not my favourite player to be honest. Never had the drive or killer instinct that Wright and Henry used to have. Good luck at Everton!
I’m a big admirer of Walcott. When he was good, he was really good. When he was not, well nobody likes a player in poor form. Overall , his good outweigh his bad and if not for injuries holding him back everytime he hits form, he would have been one of the best we have had. But sadly he leaves without cementing a place among the greats or without any major silverware from over a decade of service.
Time flies by and you get left behind if you don’t make the most of it. Theo certainly proved to be an example sadly.
Nice bloke for sure. Hope he has a great career at Everton. Just don’t score against us. Adios Theo.
Ultimately his most memorable moment in an Arsenal shirt was taking the piss out of Spurs fans whilst sitting on a stretcher.
too one dimensional for me to be considered a good player. Too many offsides, too many bad first touches, and worse, the very symbol of mediocrity at our club. I appreciate his goal record, and a few in particular, like the the Newcastle touchline slide, or the goal vs Citeh in 2015. But when I think of all those appearances and mediocre performances, I am reminded of all of our young players who were set aside for Theo’s chances. Ox, Gnabry, even our current kids like Nelson, Jeff, Eddie, Chuba. If this club wants to be great, we need to… Read more »
Good luck Theo, however frustrating you were still one of us. Waving 2-0 to the Spurs fans as you were carried off was a highlight, and the Cup Final goal. Great photo Blogs of Theo being caught offside for the zillionth time this morning.
Wenger ‘didn’t want Theo to leave’ Wenger ‘Sanchez position sorted in next 48 hours’ 83 hours ago. Usual transfer window panto and bollocks. Good luck Theo.