Reports that West Ham were readying a £25m bid for Theo Walcott emerged last week after a piece from the Mirror simply claimed that the Hammers should sign him.

• West Ham need striker, journo recommends Walcott
• Walcott has two years left on current Arsenal deal
• 28-year-old made 37 appearances for Gunners last season totaling 2,495 minutes – about 67 minutes per appearance
• Forward scored 19 goals and assisted twice

The Walcott to West Ham rumours are a prime example of how a simple statement can grow legs and spread across the media in a matter of days.

Last week, it was claimed that the Hammers were ready to bid £50m for Walcott and Olivier Giroud – £25m each.

While the links with Giroud continued, the claims that Walcott could be heading to the London Stadium fizzled out.

The rumour appears to have originated from a piece by Steve Stammers for the Mirror in which the journalist says that West Ham, after already signing Mancester City’s Pablo Zabaleta, could do a lot worse than turning to Arsenal for more reinforcements after a disappointing 2016/17 season.

Stammers pointed out how Walcott and Lucas Perez have both been strongly linked with exits this summer and suggested hypothetically that Slavan Bilic should maybe look at Walcott as a possible option.

“There will be a significant turnover of players at the Emirates as Wenger looks to mount another title challenge. Two players who could leave spring to mind – Theo Walcott and Lucas Perez,” the journalist writes.

“Walcott was a peripheral figure when Wenger changed tactics. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the main beneficiary in his new wing back role. Walcott suffered.

“He may have lost his place but he has not lost his class. A winger with genuine pace …. perfect for West Ham.”

Of course, it didn’t take long before ‘should’ sign became ‘will’ sign and then guesstimated transfer fees were chucked in for good measure.

This is just one example of how transfer rumours appear from nothing.