By LAURA WILLIAMSON
Arsenal will not sell Theo Walcott in January – even if he does not sign a new contract by Christmas.
Arsene Wenger has revealed for the first time that Arsenal will keep hold of the 23-year-old until the end of the season, despite the risk of him leaving in the summer for nothing.
Walcott has just six months left on his contract at the Emirates and talks have stalled over a new £75,000-a-week deal, with the player insisting he wants to play as a central striker rather than on the wing.
But, speaking after Walcott started and produced an impressive performance in Arsenal’s 5-2 north London derby victory over Tottenham on Saturday, Wenger said discussions were ‘positive’.
Asked whether Walcott would be sold in January if an agreement has not been reached, the Arsenal boss said: ‘No. Will he stay until the end of the season? Yes.’
Wenger added: ‘We continue (talks) in a positive way. We have until the end of December to sort this out.
‘Theo can play both positions (striker and winger). He can play up front and he can play up front with (Olivier) Giroud as well. I think he has found a good mixture and good positional play on the wing. It makes him difficult to stop.
‘It is always good when you can play everywhere. He finished as centre forward (against Spurs) and he scored the (fifth) goal.
‘Honestly, when you play with the midfield we have – Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta – in any position they will find you if you move well.’
Walcott’s pace and movement have long been his greatest assets but it is only in the past few months that he has had Cazorla to pick him out.
Arsenal’s one-man advantage for 70 minutes of the north London derby skewed this result, masking the home side’s defensive fragility and lack of confidence and thwarting Spurs’ ability to attack, but Cazorla’s talent is befitting of any contest.
The midfielder flew to Panama and back this week, although he did not play in Spain’s 5-1 win, but there were certainly no signs of fatigue. He was, as Wilshere said, ‘different class’; creative and beguiling, bringing a crossfield pass down with one touch to brings gasps from the crowd and finishing his 60th-minute goal, Arsenal’s fourth, quite beautifully.
But Cazorla’s nickname in Spain is ‘Paquirrin’, meaning ‘tubby’ – hardly an effusive moniker for a player so gifted. Wilshere quipped on Saturday that comparisons with Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona would be more appropriate.
‘His touch and his vision is just a joke,’ said the Arsenal and England midfielder. ‘He is a dream to play with. He never gives the ball away and he is creative and busy round the pitch. He is a joy to play with.
‘There was one point when there were three players around him and he just dribbled out of it. That is up there with the best. I think I will have to watch it again to learn a few things off him.
‘Some people (compare him to) Cesc Fabregas, but he is a different player to Cesc. Cesc is more of a passer. Santi can pick the ball up, he can beat people and he has got a great shot on him.
‘He hasn’t got a nickname here yet, but maybe it should be Messi – or Maradona.’
Cazorla had reciprocal praise for Wilshere, who completed another impressive 70 minutes in his return from injury after managing to calm himself down following a heated exchange with Gareth Bale early on in the match.
The young Arsenal midfielder joked in a recent interview with Sportsmail that it is he who has been compared to Messi during his time on the sidelines but Wenger insisted Wilshere has not been over-rated.
‘You don’t over-rate him, no,’ said the Arsenal manager, ‘but he still isn’t yet at 100 per cent. He has played four or five games after being 17 months out. He is still a good player but he will get better and better.
‘He is 20 years old. Cazorla is 27. I say to many people that when we played Villarreal in 2006 Cazorla was on the bench.
‘He didn’t play, and he was one year older than Wilshere is now. The experience he gains at the moment and the talent he has means he will grow.’
