adminLONDON. — Theo Walcott is ready to make Arsenal sweat before signing a new contract. The Gunners are in talks with their England star who only has a year left on his current deal.
Walcott wants £100 000-a-week to put him on a par with the club’s top earners.
But he says he is willing to play hard ball and kick-off the new season without agreeing new terms.
He said: “My agent has talked to the club. I enjoy playing for this club so I am just letting them crack on with things and I’ll continue playing football.
“If it happens, it happens. We’ll just play the waiting game and see what happens, but I’m sure it won’t be long.”
Asked if we would be fine if talks dragged into the new season, he said: “Definitely. It’s not in my thought process at all, I think that’s the best thing.
“You don’t want to dwell on it. I won’t let that delay the way I’m going to be playing this season. I can’t let that affect me, I want to do well for this club.”
Walcott was speaking after opening the scoring in Arsenal’s impressive 3-1 win over Everton in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy.
It was his first pre-season appearance after a strong end to a frustrating season when he came back from a nine-month knee injury in top form despite not getting a regular starting role.
That cruciate ligament damage kept him out of last summer’s World Cup and he played 14 league games last season, starting just four.
But he showed what he can do when he is fit with a closing day hat-trick against West Brom and the crucial opener in the FA Cup final against Aston Villa, when he got the nod ahead of Olivier Giroud.
Liverpool thought they might be able to swap him for Raheem Sterling plus cash this summer while Chelsea explored the possibility of taking him as part of Petr Cech’s move to the Emirates.
But now he has his sights set on doing the business for the Gunners.
“I didn’t want the season to end to be fair,” he said. — The Daily Star.
Online Reporter