by Lewis Ambrose

Speaking to The Telegraph while on international duty, Theo Walcott is determined to take his career – especially for England – to the next level.

Theo Walcott has barely played football since January 2014, and the summer of 2015 is one that can’t be over soon enough for the striker.

Finally forcing himself into the Arsenal team following his ligament injury, Walcott bagged a hat-trick against West Brom on the final day of the season to earn a start at Wembley, where he smashed home the opener in the FA Cup Final success over Aston Villa.

What’s next?

Focus

There have been plenty of rumours flying around with Walcott’s Arsenal contract expiring at the end of the 2015/16 season, but he just wants to focus on England.

“My club future at the moment is absolutely fine,” said Walcott.

“As you can see I’ve been playing and I want to play well for the club.

“When it comes to the summer with the contract and all the situations, that’s something I’ll deal with then. I don’t really want to discuss it because I think that’s a distraction that will affect these next two [England] games.

“I think it’s important to concentrate on the now and these things in the future will get sorted I’m sure. I’ll just leave my agent to deal with that side of things.”

Both Walcott and manager Arsène Wenger have sounded positive on the contract from as the season drew to a close, and Walcott will be aiming to carry on his form at the beginning of next season as well as for his country.

International

Wenger has even said Walcott is at the right age to peak soon, and the forward agrees.

“This age is where you push on, without a doubt,” says the international, who will look to add to his disappointing five England goals in Slovenia next weekend.

“It hasn’t been at a consistent level and I know that.

“It is a gradual process but I know that these years now, if I want to be one of the greater players, I need to perform for England and Arsenal on a consistent basis.”

But he still feels he’s shown resilience since being picked for the 2006 World Cup as a 16 year-old before being ignored by manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

“From the drama of the [2006] World Cup when I probably didn’t deserve to go – something I’ve gone over on numerous occasions and I think a lot of young players might not have been able to cope with what I’ve dealt with – all the way up from injuries, to successes to real lows, some players might have just gone away and hid from it all.”

Walcott believes in this young England team and has huge hopes for the future.

“It’s about being successful in a tournament.”

“We have been playing some good football in the qualifiers, but the most important thing is that we have been getting consistently good results. 

“Now we’ve got to take that into a tournament. I understand better than ever now that football is all about results.”

Suit

Football is all about results. That mantra perfectly suits Walcott, who is all about goals.

Despite his drawbacks he consistently delivers end product for Arsenal.

Time to do the same for England.