Arsenal Transfer Rumors: Gunners Smart to Hold on to Theo Walcott

Theo Walcott does not appear to be leaving Arsenal during the last few days of the transfer window and this is excellent news for the Gunners’ prospects this season.

The 23-year-old winger appears to have reached a temporary solution with his club in order to buy more time to negotiate a new contract, according to the BBC. The article notes that Walcott has turned down a £75,000 per week contract, but Arsenal is confident that Walcott wishes to remain in North London.

The Daily Telegraph’s Jeremy Wilson notes that manager Arsene Wenger prefers to either sell or re-sign his players before they enter the final year of their contract, but the Frenchman is making an exception in this situation.

This is a wise move by an intelligent manager. Walcott is not necessarily vital to the Gunners’ success, but he is a productive player who adds pace to the team’s attack. A knee-jerk reaction that resulted in selling him before exploring the options that would keep him with the club would have been ill-advised.

Walcott has steadily improved since signing for Arsenal as a teenager. His speed has always allowed him to be a threat on the wing, but he has turned into a more mature and intelligent player in the past two seasons.

His production has reflected this growth. During Arsenal’s 2010-11 campaign, he recorded nine goals and seven assists in 28 English Premier League appearances. The following year, he notched eight goals and eight assists in 35 league matches.

These are not eye-popping statistics, but they show that Walcott can produce consistently across the Premiership season. At his age, that is a valuable quality.

With Robin van Persie gone, the team does not have a talisman up top to rely upon for the bulk of its offense. The Gunners must attack with balance and receive contributions from several players if they hope to have a dangerous attack this season.

Arsenal has not been impressive up front in its first two Premiership fixtures, and the team has failed to produce a goal. New players like Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski have not quite become comfortable with the Gunners' incumbent attackers. When these players settle in, the team will be able to attack defenses in many different ways. 

Walcott is certainly capable of playing an important role in this group effort. Depth in the attacking positions will be vital to Arsenal’s success this season, and selling Walcott would have limited Wenger’s options.

With the speedy winger still in the mix, Arsenal will be able to find the back of the net soon enough.