Arsenal: Thomas Lemar puts Theo Walcott out of his misery

Arsenal are reportedly ready to lodge a £45 million bid for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar. The potential addition would spell the end of patiently waiting for Theo Walcott.

While Arsenal have always been known as an attacking team, prioritising the creating an scoring of goals, rather than taking the approach of prevention that the likes of Jose Mourinho regularly demands against the better sides, looking at the squad on paper, there is a far greater need for players in advanced areas.

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The strength in depth that the Gunners have defensively allowed Wenger to loan out Calum Chambers, amid fear that he would stent his development with a lack of game time. Meanwhile, there was a worrying dependency on Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in attack, with several good, but not great, players making up the rest of the squad.

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Thankfully, Wenger’s early transfer behaviour suggests that he is aware of the squad’s shortcoming. The first major signing of the summer was Alexandre Lacazette, a pacy, ruthless centre-forward to replace Olivier Giroud that has been a long time coming. The Frenchman has proven his goalscoring prowess over a number of years for Lyon, and brings a calibre and reputation at the striker position that has been missing since Robin van Persie’s controversial exit in 2012.

And Wenger is not prepared to stop there. Per recent reports, Wenger is ready to continue pushing for Monaco winger, Thomas Lemar, submitting a £45 million offer, after seeing previous bids of £30 and £40 million rejected. The 21-year-old is a versatile attacker, who excels in wide areas, and would enter the fray as a certain starter, further resigning another option to little more than a reserve role.

The man who Lemar would likely replace, assuming Alexis Sanchez does indeed stay, which may or may not be a fair assumption to make, is Theo Walcott. Wenger has been extremely patient with the searing winger, waiting for him to deliver on the promise that he has shown in glimpses throughout a frustrating and underwhelming career thus far.

However, if Lemar was added to the squad, it would seemingly see the end of the Walcott experiment. Entering last season, it felt as though his days were numbered. His position was finally nailed down, Wenger had committed to him one last time and it was expected that he would now produce at the level and consistency that was initially hoped of him.

Walcott did not suffer a poor year. He was electric early on, scoring goals against Chelsea and leading a barnstorming win over Ludogorets in the Champions League. But Wenger reduced his responsibility as the season progressed, eventually dropping him from the line-up altogether when he implemented a 3-4-3 formation to reignite a rotting campaign.

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The pursuit of Lemar is an intriguing one. While he plays a similar position to Walcott, he takes a very different approach. Rather than rely on sheer pace and athleticism, he is far more intelligent, boasting great nous and guile in unpicking opposing defences. Perhaps Wenger’s attraction to such a player spells the end of a disappointing time in North London for Walcott.