This year marks Theo Walcott’s 10th year at Arsenal and he’s the first to acknowledge what an achievement this is.
Speaking in an interview recently, the forward said, “I’ve grown from being a little babyface to a man. From when I joined the club to now, it’s completely changed. The likes of Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Sol Campbell and so on were there and had won the league before, going undefeated. Coming into that squad was a big achievement.”
The 26-year-old moved to the Gunners in 2006 from Southampton but has had his time in London plagued with injuries. The once promising youngster now finds it increasingly difficult to break into a first team that’s going from strength-to-strength, sparking rumours that he may be leaving this summer to fellow Premier League team, Liverpool.
The forward revealed the importance of his shirt number, the he put himself under when changing from a 32 into a 14 and spoke about his pride at getting to wear Thierry Henry’s number.
“At the time I wanted No 8. I was 32, as I was at Southampton, and wanted eight, but we signed Samir Nasri,” he said. “My second choice was No 7, but I couldn’t have that because of Tomas Rosicky, so I had 14. I just wanted to get a low number. I didn’t realise at the time that 14 was Thierry and when I did take it, I realised that it was his. I had the opportunity to see him in the flesh and work with him every day. I’m proud to wear the number.”
So far, the England international has featured just 10 times for Arsenal and scored three times. At the moment, it’s difficult to see where he slots into the starting lineup. However, after so long at the club, it would be a shame to see him go.