Arsenal: Selling Theo Walcott Would End An Era

Arsenal are rumored to be listening to offers for Theo Walcott, but is this blatant solution really as easy as it seems or will the speedy one hang around?

Arsenal are not known for selling people. Not anymore. It used to be that any time a player was past his prime (Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira), they would be sold. It worked out pretty well. That all came to a screeching half when the Emirates was built. Suddenly players were being sold for other reasons.

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Since that time however, no one has been sold. Not a soul. Arsene Wenger is clinging onto everyone as if he would never be able to replace them. That in and of itself is a testament to how Wenger values loyalty as well as how much he shuns the transfer market.

Even this summer, sales would be rather odd. Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky are out of contract, but those don’t count as sales.

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The only even potentially likely sale is Theo Walcott. The man that was always supposed to be the next in line after Henry and Robin van Persie (or at least that’s what Walcott thought). However, thanks to injuries and a bizarre lack of progression, Walcott sits at Arsenal, a 27 year old man, looking remarkably similar (in appearance as well) as how he did when he scored his first goal for Arsenal at the age of 17.

One whole decade. Yet a sale even now seems far-fetched, especially when given the fact that Wenger thinks the best of Walcott is yet to come. Wenger has never and will never sell someone who still has their best yet to come. So either Wenger was lying to us and plans on selling him, or he’s staying put.

Whatever happens, one thing is pretty clear – to sell Theo Walcott would end an era and begin a new one. As mentioned, the past decade has been characterized by unwilling sales and very limited purchases. No one was sold and replaced. Arsenal was building towards something.

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Selling Walcott brings that to a close. It would start an era where willing sales are a reality. Where, just because someone is at Arsenal, doesn’t mean they will stay there. But this isn’t like a rift between eras. Wenger wouldn’t be setting up a firesale to clear out the squad. But it would be a basic acknowledgment that what Arsenal was building towards is here. Now it just needss fine-tuning.

Sometimes fine-tuning involves swapping out some players that didn’t turn out the way you expected.

I do believe that over the past decade or so, Wenger has had a very exact image of what he has wanted to this club. He has put together sly pieces to form what he had hoped to be a complete puzzle. But anyone, even Wenger, would know that given a decade of changes, it might not all work out.

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Walcott has not worked out and since Arsenal is hanging out at the zenith of where they wanted to be by now, a few tweaks and changes may be the only requirement left unmet.