Barcelona Transfer News: Theo Walcott Arsenal Exit Rumours Rubbished

Barcelona’s reported pursuit of Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has been rubbished by Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague.

As noted by Nick Miller of the Guardian, “reports in Spain” had linked the England international with a move to the Catalan giants after an impressive start to the 2015-16 term. When quizzed on the prospect of a transfer in his column for Sky Sports, Balague claimed there was nothing tangible in the stories.

“This one is pretty simple to answer,” he said. “No, the Walcott to Barcelona rumours are complete rubbish.”

Although currently out of the side with an injury, there were signs earlier in the season that Walcott was set to enjoy his finest year for Arsenal so far. As we can see here courtesy of WhoScored.com, his goalscoring for both club and country has been excellent:

There are other facets of his game that have improved too. Walcott has often been rendered as incapable of carrying the torch at the point of the Gunners’ attack due to a lack of nous, his slight body type and consequently, poor hold-up play. But these are all areas in which the 26-year-old has improved this term.

BEN STANSALL/Getty Images

Games against Manchester United and Bayern Munich, which Arsenal won 3-0 and 2-0, respectively, were fine examples of that, as Walcott used his blistering pace to great effect, creating space for the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to run riot.

However, in Olivier Giroud, Walcott has some stiff competition at Arsenal, especially given his stellar form in recent weeks, per Soccer St.:

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No Frenchman has scored more goals than Olivier Giroud in 2015. Le Magnifique. pic.twitter.com/MunReHrj40

— Soccer St. (@SoccerSt_) November 1, 2015"

The recent improvements made by Walcott meant links to Barcelona were not completely scoffed at. While in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar the Blaugrana have some magnificent attacking players, in terms of strength in depth they are currently a little short. The Englishman would add a different edge with his pace and is capable of playing across the front line too.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

It always seemed an unlikely proposition, especially after Walcott agreed a new contract with the Gunners recently. However, football writer MC remains unsure whether or not the England man is even good enough to lead the line for Arsenal:

There are certain qualities required in order to be coveted by Barcelona. For all of Walcott’s many qualities, that’s not necessarily something he possesses, although his decision-making is becoming much more refined.

For the time being, getting back into the Arsenal team at the expense of Giroud will be Walcott’s biggest challenge. Nevertheless, there have been some encouraging signs this term that the forward can become a much more consistent contributor for the Londoners.