Theo Walcott: Arsenal Star Reportedly Reaches Short-Term Agreement with Club

With the threat of a transfer looming without an agreement before Friday's deadline, Theo Walcott and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger have agreed to a short-term deal for the 23-year-old striker to remain with the club, according to Jeremy Wilson of The Telegraph.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 10:13 a.m. EDT by Tyler Conway

The news is now official, according to a statement by Wenger. As previously reported, Walcott's short-term agreement is just for this season. The talented striker will not sign an extension with the club, but instead merely play out this season while trying to agree long-term.

Said Wenger, via Arsenal's club website:

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Theo has one year to go [on his contract] and that is simple. We have to find an agreement with him on whether to extend the contract or not for a longer period. That is what we want to do. 

I think Theo loves the club. Contrary to what some media have written he is not obsessed by money, there is just a little difference that we hope we can, at some stage, find an agreement with. That is it basically.

"

Going forward, this should be good for the Gunners. Wenger and Walcott have seemingly settled the early contentiousness and the 23-year-old should be a top contributor for the club this EPL season. 

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Though Walcott and Wenger are yet to come to terms on a long-term agreement, the English footballer decided he would rather stick with the Gunners for this English Premier League season than get sold to a new club.

Via The Telegraph: 

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Although Walcott has told Wenger that he is not currently prepared to accept the offer of a five-year £75,000-a-week contract, he did inform the Arsenal manager that he wants to remain at the club and hold further discussions about his future.

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Until Wenger’s talks with Walcott today, the view at Arsenal was that they were willing to sell their 23-year-old winger if he did not agree to sign a new contract by Friday’s closure of the transfer window.

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For Arsenal fans, retaining Walcott for this season should come as a huge relief. The club had already lost leading scorer Robin van Persie and star midfielder Alex Song in the transfer window and could ill afford another blow. 

Walcott had his best career season in 2011-12, scoring eight goals and adding 11 assists for the Gunners and is widely considered one of the better young strikers in football. 

With Arsenal unable to get on the scoreboard through two matches this season, the loss of a talented young striker could have been crippling. 

Luckily this short-term agreement gives Wenger and Walcott plenty of time to negotiate a long-term deal before his contract expires after the 2012-13 campaign.

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