Share

Walcott wants new Arsenal contract

Theo Walcott will be 10 years an Arsenal player in January, by which time he would like to be half-way towards a goal target of 20, challenging for the title and committed to a new contract.

Advertisement

Walcott had already signed a contract with Arsenal in 2013 that was worth £90,000-per-week, but the 26-year-old believes he is worth more than that.

With Arsenal in the market for a striker, fans are losing sleep over Walcott’s contract situation but the forward insists that he wants to stay with the club and a resolution will be reached in the next few days.

“If it happens it happens”.

“I enjoy playing for this club, so I am just letting them crack on with things and I’ll continue playing football”.

“The next big step is to challenge for the Premier League, which if we’d had our form in the second half of the season, could have been us coming first”. But that is the word you don’t want to use in sport – “ifs”.

Walcott scored the opening goal in the final of the Asia Trophy against Everton in a 3-1 win to secure the pre-season tournament for the Gunners on Saturday. I enjoy playing for this club. It’s not in my thought process at all. It’s a really exciting year for myself personally and I think this team can go very far.

“But as I have said before, we are in a league in which it is very hard to know how good our opponents will be at this stage, but it is important to focus on making sure we are as strong as we can be; then, we have a chance”. The 27-year-old could be a flawless replacement for Walcott, with his ability to play on either flank, his lightning pace, and his ability to arrive late in unsafe areas.

“I’ve been in a lot of squads and this is one of the best that I’ve been involved in”, the forward told his club’s site.

He added: “I’m always going to be judged on goals”.

Advertisement

‘This is my first pre-season for two years and I want to get fit. “That is all I can do”. When reminded of that, he discussed how much he loves this Arsenal unit and said with a smile: “Maybe I should be talking about testimonial times”. I want to be part of that. “I want to work really hard and make sure I’m in that starting lineup come the first game of the season”.

Theo Walcott In action against Everton in the Asia Trophy final