Wenger: Walcott Owes it to Arsenal to Stay

[Karl]

Wenger: Walcott Owes it to Arsenal to Stay
Sky Sports

Arsene Wenger believes Theo Walcott owes it to him and to Arsenal to sign a new deal. The 23-year-old Englishman, currently in negotiations over an extension to a contract that expires in the summer, is believed to want first-team assurances as well as a salary of up to $162,000 per week. Moreover, Walcott wants to be given the chance to prove himself in the central striker’s role, from which he scored a brilliant final goal in Arsenal’s 5-2 demolition at Reading on Monday.

In an interview, Arsenal coach Wenger said he took a “gamble” on Walcott by signing him as a 16-year-old in 2006, and that he has “stood up” for him several times in the past, and wants to see his faith repaid. "What is important to keep the young players together is that at some stage I have stood up for them; I played you at 17, 18, 19 years of age and I know I took a gamble," Wenger said. "It is easier to take a player of 25 and put him in the team. You know what you are getting. If you put them in at 17 or 18, you have to stand up for them. You risk losing games while they are learning their job. Once you have produced them you want to say, 'Okay, let's stay together and win together.'” He added: “Somewhere along the line they need to give back to the club what the club has given to them.”

Wenger said that Arsenal would not be held to ransom over Walcott’s wage demands. "I am happy to pay Theo the money he deserves, but I feel as well that I bought him at 16 years of age and spent a lot of money on him. I am a big supporter and I believe he is happy here. Theo has always looked to me like he is an Arsenal man."
– Read the whole story…

[Karl]

SkySports: I do not remember it that way...others wanted him. ...anyway, it's business!

[Karl]

Arsenal must secure the long-term services of Theo Walcott,

Arsenal must secure the long-term services of Theo Walcott, says Jamie Redknapp

Jamie Redknapp
Posted 20th December 2012


It was good to see Arsenal sign up five of their brightest young talents this week - but this is how it should be.

So often over the last few years the Gunners have allowed the contracts of their key players to wind down and they've paid the price.

They've been forced into selling the likes of talisman, top scorer and captain Robin van Persie for far less than his true value - and that shouldn't be happening at a big club like Arsenal.

Signed: Jenkinson, Ramsey, Wilshere, Gibbs and Oxlade-Chamberlain put pen to paper

Too often, by not securing players on long-term deals, Arsenal have allowed the players to boss situations. When players only have six months on their contracts - as Theo Walcott does now - they hold all the cards.



A great football club like Arsenal should have been saying to Van Persie: 'You've got three years left on your contract, you can sign now or we'll sell you for £30m-40m', instead of letting him go for £24m. Sir Alex Ferguson said it was good business - well, yeah, it was for Manchester United!

Theo Walcott's a good player. He gets a lot of unfair criticism but he's quick, he scores goals, he makes goals and he showed with his left-foot finish against Reading what he can do.

Jamie Redknapp


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So, it's right for Arsenal to tie these players down and I'm pleased they've done it because otherwise they'd have a similar situation with the likes of Wilshere down the line.


As much as he says he wants to stay, if the club isn't going in right direction he'll soon go. It's happened before; Wayne Rooney did it at Everton. But Arsenal have now given themselves some security.

Example

Their next task is to get Walcott on a similar contract.

I've heard lots of Arsenal fans say it doesn't matter if they lose him - well it does matter. Being forced into selling Walcott at a cut-price because his deal has run down will set the wrong example once again.

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal is the right club for Walcott, but he said the same thing about Nasri and Van Persie.

Walcott's a good player, he gets a lot of unfair criticism but he's quick, he scores goals, he makes goals and he showed with his left-foot finish against Reading what he can do. Other clubs will see it as a no-brainer to try and sign him if January if Arsenal don't tie him down.

If it means giving Walcott a bit more money, then so be it. If Arsenal don't like it, they can sign him up and then sell him in January or in the summer - they'll get more for him when he's got a four-year deal than just six months to go.

With all this talk about matters off the field there has also been a lot of criticism of Arsene Wenger. But the world hasn't caved in on Arsenal.

They're only two points off third and with Wigan this weekend followed by matches with an out-of-sorts Newcastle, Southampton and Swansea over the festive period they can cement their place among the top five in the division.

The frustration, though, isn't just about this year, it's about Arsenal selling their best players every year, having to build new teams every year - and the fans don't want it this way. Every year there's more talk about who's going than who is coming and that's not good.

Positives

However, there were positives on the field for Arsenal supporters in the 5-2 win at Reading.

The hosts were poor, make no mistake about that, but I liked the balance of the Arsenal team. Back when Arsenal were winning Premier League titles the word I'd associated with them was 'pace'. From the wide men to the centre forwards and even midfielders running through, they all had pace.

Against Reading they had Lukas Podolski, Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain across the front with Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere in midfield. That is as good a front five as you could wish to see and they had the experienced Mikel Arteta sitting in behind them.


They showed real quality and speed in their movement and there was a lot of promise there. The problem is what happens when they lose one of those to injury as I don't feel the replacements are up to the same level.They should have another successful trip on Saturday, though, when they travel to Wigan for a lunchtime kick-off live on Sky Sports.

Roberto Martinez's side have been unfortunate to have eight players out injured recently and that's resulted in a poor run of form in which they've lost five of their last seven, including what would have been a painful loss to Norwich last weekend.

Games against teams such as Norwich - rather than Arsenal - would have been targeted by Martinez but their problem is strength in depth and with eight out their already-small squad is always going to struggle.

They'll still try to play football the right way this weekend, though, and it should be a good match to watch - however, Arsenal will have too much for them and, I think, they'll win 2-1.

[Karl]

The following article claims Theo was signed for $12 million. -

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...ct-at-Emirates

[Paul Marin]

Wenger: Walcott Owes it to Arsenal to Stay
Sky Sports

Arsene Wenger believes Theo Walcott owes it to him and to Arsenal to sign a new deal. The 23-year-old Englishman, currently in negotiations over an extension to a contract that expires in the summer, is believed to want first-team assurances as well as a salary of up to $162,000 per week. Moreover, Walcott wants to be given the chance to prove himself in the central striker’s role, from which he scored a brilliant final goal in Arsenal’s 5-2 demolition at Reading on Monday.

In an interview, Arsenal coach Wenger said he took a “gamble” on Walcott by signing him as a 16-year-old in 2006, and that he has “stood up” for him several times in the past, and wants to see his faith repaid. "What is important to keep the young players together is that at some stage I have stood up for them; I played you at 17, 18, 19 years of age and I know I took a gamble," Wenger said. "It is easier to take a player of 25 and put him in the team. You know what you are getting. If you put them in at 17 or 18, you have to stand up for them. You risk losing games while they are learning their job. Once you have produced them you want to say, 'Okay, let's stay together and win together.'” He added: “Somewhere along the line they need to give back to the club what the club has given to them.”

Wenger said that Arsenal would not be held to ransom over Walcott’s wage demands. "I am happy to pay Theo the money he deserves, but I feel as well that I bought him at 16 years of age and spent a lot of money on him. I am a big supporter and I believe he is happy here. Theo has always looked to me like he is an Arsenal man."
– Read the whole story…

From the headline - I didn't bother reading the article. The relationship between player and club is one between a fighting force made up of mercenaries. When Wenger is prepared to keep the player on his payroll no matter what his performance and better yet, give him a contract even if when his performances go in the toilet, then he can talk about anyone "owing" another. Face facts, Wenger would not have signed Walcott or any other player if it wasn't in his best interest. I wonder how he would feel if Bendtner were to say "Arsenal owes it to me to keep me on"? Pure, unadulterated selfishness. Football has long lost any modicum of loyalty whether it be from player, club or fan. After all, look at my bredrin X - just this year alone he has supported 3 different teams.