Arsenal FC winger Theo Walcott has reportedly agreed a new contract with the North London based club, amid speculation that Liverpool FC were interested in his signature.
After long and protracted negotiations, the club and the English international were finally able to come to agree on terms, acceptable to both the parties involved according to reports. Walcott, who was in the last year of his contract, had a similar contract saga three years ago, when he extended his contract.
Walcott joins Arsenal FC’s elite club of footballers earning in excess of A?100,000-a-week
The new contract will see Walcott stay with the Gunners till 2019, while also bringing his salary to A?100,000-a-week, making him join an elite bracket of select footballers earning in excess of A?100,000 at the North London club, which includes stars like Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Petr Cech.
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Earlier, there were doubts over the long term fitness of Walcott, who had suffered a serious new injury in January 2014, while playing in a FA Cup match against arch-rivals Tottenham, however, his performance towards the end of last season and in the FA Cup final, has convinced the Arsenal FC hierarchy that the 26-year-old has returned to his best and the injury did not take a toll on the speedster’s pace or goal-scoring ability. The Southampton youth product had missed last year’s World Cup due to the same injury, which kept him out of action for more than a year.
Arsene wanted to avoid a repeat of last time’s Walcott’s contract negotitations
Last time, during the contract negotiations, manager Arsene Wenger had feared that the club might lose Walcott on a free, as the negotiations had entered the final six months of his contract, before an agreement was finally reached, and the 65-year-old wanted to avoid a repeat of the scenario. Arsene must be a relieved man now that the negotiations have concluded and the English international will most likely be spending his prime years as a footballer at the club.
The Gunners looked in sublime touch in yesterday’s match against Olympique Lyon, as they hit six past the Los Gones, en route to an emphatic victory in the first game of the Emirates Cup. While, there have been calls from a huge section of the Gunners faithful to sign a World Class striker, on account of their display last night, one might have to think, what a World Class addition could do to this already brilliant side.