Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger remains upbeat about thrashing out a contract extension with Englishman Theo Walcott revealing that his future will be decided upon before christmas ‘one way or the other’.
The Frenchman was full of praise for the pacy attacker after his hat-trick heroics against Reading in midweek and continued to reinforce the idea that Walcott will soon make the transition to his desired position as the lone striker.
While the young Englishman has very much impressed when he has been given the chance to play this term, Arsenal remain reluctant to give him regular match-time due to the current dilemma surrounding his contract.
Wenger is quoted as saying by Arsenal.com on Walcott:
In our team, we have freedom of movement. Nobody is handcuffed. When we have the ball, we have a lot of freedom to move.
It’s important to know where we go, but I think Theo has learnt a lot on that.
He has good pace, [makes] excellent, intelligent runs, and what has changed with Theo is he’s become a very good finisher. I would take an example of his first goal the other night at Reading. It’s a real ‘finisher’s’ goal.
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I’ve not thought about that [losing him], because at the moment I think we will still manage to make a deal with him. There is urgency [about sorting it out]. We want to sort it out before Christmas, one way or the other.
The debate still rolls on about whether Walcott should be starting in the Premier League for Arsenal, but based on recent games it is becoming increasingly obvious that he could do some real damage up front or on the wing.
He has definitely improved his finishing and while he is still inconsistent, one feels that he still has the ability to make something out of absolutely nothing by simply utilizing his electrifying pace, as shown with his first goal against Reading.
When you throw on top of this that Giroud, Podolski or Gervinho have not really been excelling up front, surely Wenger must be contemplating giving him a go as the lone striker or even just starting him on the wing even though he has yet to sign an extension. Particularly with Gervinho injured and the Ox not confirmed to be available.
What do you guys think? Should he finally be given the chance? Or should he be left on the bench until he signs a contract extension? Feel free toe leave a comment below or comment on Walcott in the allArsenal.com forums!
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