Former Gunner Paul Merson has urged Arsenal to sign Theo Walcott up as quickly as possible.

Easier said than done, Paul.

Merson was speaking on The Morning View on Sky Sports News when he told the presenters “Arsenal need to sign him up, because he’s someone who will come back and haunt you badly.

“Everybody in the country will want to sign Walcott; he will get you 15 to 20 goals a season.

“Arsenal need to sign him very, very quickly. He’s a must, an absolute must.”

The problem with that is Theo himself.

With Wenger already remarking that the player moves incredibly slowly off the pitch when it comes to negotiations, it had been thought that they would be completed this month but the front man denied that they have even begun.

What’s the problem?

Walcott says he wants to focus on doing his best for Arsenal which isn’t really an explanation at all given that he has advisers to do all the talking and all he has to say is ‘yes‘ or ‘no‘ when they present him with Arsenal’s latest offer.

Hardly that taxing or distracting really.

After the saga of his last contract and the wrangling over money (it was never about position) it seems as if this is set to be yet another borefest with the England man perhaps, this time, overestimating his own worth to the club.

Don’t tell Arsenal to sign Theo up, Paul, tell the player himself.