In the end the writing on the wall was spelled out boldly enough for Theo Walcott to recognise the comfort zone was not really that comfortable at all. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the departure of a forward who spent more than a decade at Arsenal, mostly in this strange space where he grew older and signed new contracts while being judged about how far he was – or ever could reach – on the potential fulfilment scale, is that he uprooted at all. Walcott has in some ways been a perfect symbol of the later Wenger years: flashes of undeniable talent mixed with unreliability, a sense of sticking with the same old familiar tune rather than finding a way to fire up the rhythm.
Walcott always looked like the last person who would want out of Arsenal. It was a good life for him and his family and, as a decent and polite sort, he tended to prefer to play safe rather than agitate. The message this season, however, encouraged him to make a break for it and seek a new challenge. He could not get more than 63 minutes of Premier League football during a period where the team have struggled. Last weekend at Bournemouth, with no Alexis Sánchez, Mesut Özil or Olivier Giroud, the manager picked Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi to support Alexandre Lacazette in attack. Last season Welbeck and Iwobi scored four goals each. Walcott delivered 19. They were trusted to start and he was not. There was not much comfort to be found on that bench.
Related: Sánchez-Mkhitaryan deal ‘likely to happen’, says Arsène Wenger
Related: Theo Walcott’s £20m Everton move spells trouble for Lookman and Vlasic | Andy Hunter
Continue reading...