Arsenal played blinder over Walcott

Arsene Wenger led Arsenal to numerous main trophies throughout his 22-year reign on the membership, main them to an undefeated Premier League season in addition to a first-ever Champions League closing.

It was maybe the Frenchman’s imaginative and prescient within the switch market, significantly in his first decade, which actually enamoured him to the Arsenal trustworthy.

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The likes of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, and Marc Overmars had been all signed and contributed in direction of one of many biggest durations within the membership’s revered historical past.

One in every of his most underrated signings was that of Theo Walcott in January 2006, with Wenger paying Southampton an preliminary charge of simply £5m for the 16-year-old. He needed to wait till his 17^th birthday to signal full skilled varieties.

That summer time, Walcott made headlines by being selected for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England World Cup squad, with out having performed a single minute for Arsenal.

He didn’t function on the event however made his Arsenal debut in August 2006 and scored simply eight objectives in his first two seasons.

Objective returns of six, 4, 13, and 11 instructed he was growing into the participant that noticed Wenger convey him to the membership within the first place.

It was 2012/2013 when he had a correct breakthrough, actually in purpose contribution phrases, for the membership. Buoyed on by being a part of England’s Euro 2012 squad (scoring in a 3-2 win over Sweden) Walcott netted 21 objectives and registered 16 assists in all competitions.

This proved to be the apex for the winger at Arsenal, with 2016/2017 being the one marketing campaign that got here near matching these ridiculous heights (19 objectives and two assists). His skills deserved extra trophies, with the Englishman profitable three FA Cups underneath Wenger, however his spell on the membership coincided with their nine-year trophy drought.

The Frenchman lavished reward on the winger when he was going by the most effective scoring season of his profession in 2013, saying he was “absolutely sensational” following the profitable transformation on the membership.

Was Theo Walcott a hit at Arsenal?

All in all, Walcott scored 108 objectives and grabbed an extra 80 assists throughout his 12-year spell in London, earlier than transferring to Everton and again to his first membership, Southampton.

For £5m, Wenger actually noticed a prodigious younger expertise. Whether or not or not he lived as much as his early promise is up for debate, however 108 objectives for Arsenal and 47 appearances for England counsel that the Frenchman noticed one thing.