Arsenal Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Theo Walcott and Wojciech Szczesny

Everton are reportedly preparing a £30 million offer for Arsenal winger Theo Walcott as they look to continue their summer splurge. Elsewhere, Juventus are said to be confident of signing Gunners goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny "in the coming days."

According to the Sunday Mirror's John Richardson, Walcott is being eyed as an alternative to crocked Yannick Bolasie, who could be absent until the start of next year after injuring his cruciate ligament last December, per Sky Sports.

Everton spent big to sign Bolasie from Crystal Palace last summer for a reported £25 million, and the Toffees have been led to believe Walcott could be theirs after he failed to cement his spot in Arsenal starting XI last season.

Walcott made 29 starts for the Gunners last season but played the full 90 minutes on just 14 occasions, and James Benge of the Evening Standard recently commented on his seemingly futile quest to fit in as a forward at the club:

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has already made use of majority stakeholder Farhad Moshiri's funds, spending more than £100 million on the likes of Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Michael Keane and Sandro Ramirez.

Walcott, 28, is one of the longest-serving players in the current Arsenal squad, having arrived from Southampton in 2006. However, the Press Association's Mark Mann-Bryans attested to his place in the team still being under scrutiny following a recent pre-season win over Sydney FC:

Meanwhile, Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Juventus are in high spirits regarding their chances of landing Szczesny, who spent the last two seasons on loan at Serie A rivals AS Roma (h/t Rob Guest of Football.London).

The Poland international moved to Italy on temporary terms while Petr Cech took his spot as Arsenal's No. 1, but Szczesny seized the opportunity and impressed during his spell away, per Squawka:

It seems the Bianconeri were impressed by the stopper, too, and they have plans to recruit Szczesny as back-up—and perhaps eventually successor—to Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport 24 (h/t Goal's Dom Farrell) last month, Buffon, 39, conceded the 2017-18 campaign is likely to be his last with the Old Lady: 

"I'm 99.9 percent certain of retirement. I'm going to have one final, intense season, rich in big moments, and then it will be time to say enough is enough.

"We've just left one small possibility open with the president [Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli]. That is if we manage to win the Champions League I will carry on playing one more year to try to win the Club World Cup and other trophies."

Szczesny may fancy the thought of potentially filling Buffon's boots in Turin once his contract has expired next summer, and Juve "believe €9 million (£7.9 million) will be enough" to get a deal across the line.