Theo Walcott says he’s ready to compete with the likes of Thomas Lemar if Arsenal manage to complete a deal for him.

Having already broken their club transfer record for Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal are now after his compatriot, Thomas Lemar.

At this stage the club don’t seem to be particularly optimistic about pulling off his signing, but if he did join, then the two Frenchman would put a lot of pressure on Theo Walcott, as they would be occupying two of the positions he can play in.

Not only that, but Alex Iwobi is having a very strong pre-season, Alexis Sanchez doesn’t look to be on his way out, Giroud is still fighting for his place, Özil has the other wide-forward role covered, and Welbeck provides a better option for physical battles. Even some of the academy players, like Reiss Nelson, will start to put pressure on Theo.

Theo claims he isn’t worried however, as he’s been at the club long enough to know how to deal with it, with the Daily Mail reporting that he told talkSPORT: “I’m 28 now. I’ve dealt with competition throughout the years. I always welcome it. It always gets something out of you as well when other players become involved.

“You will see Alexandre coming in and other centre-forwards in the dressing room will be thinking, ‘right, I need to step up.’ That’s always the way it is. It is healthy.”

As for whether Theo had any idea whether Lemar would be joining, he had the following to say: “Who knows who else the manager will bring in. We don’t know. We just get on with our job and try to get fit.”