According to reports in The Express on October 6, Southampton are looking to bring out-of-favour Arsenal winger Theo Walcott back to the club during the January transfer window, 12 years after he left St Mary’s.
The attacker left the south coast outfit for the Gunners when he was just 16 years old and had made just 23 appearances for Saints, but he has struggled to become a key first team player under Arsene Wenger over the years.
Now The Express says the 28-year-old, whose contract at the Emirates Stadium runs out in 2019, will be sold in the New Year as Wenger as no plans to extend the deal and is looking to reshape his squad, with Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino keen to bring him to the club.
The Argentine manager has made a mixed start to his career at St Mary’s with the club taking eight points from their opening seven Premier League fixtures of the season, and his team look particularly short in attacking areas.
Here are three reasons Walcott is the missing link that Saints need…
Goals
Having scored just five goals in the Premier League this season – with three of those coming in the same match against West Ham United in August – Southampton are once again struggling to find the net right now.
Stretching back to the end of the previous campaign, the south coast outfit have failed to score in 10 of their 15 top flight fixtures and their attacking players are showing few signs of changing that record.
Walcott would certainly bring a real goal threat if he did complete a return to St Mary’s having scored 19 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners last term – mainly from out wide – while he has three in seven outings this season.
Pace
As everyone knows by now, Walcott has bundles of pace and that is another thing that Southampton are really lacking at the moment.
Quite often already this season they have had opportunities to break on the counter, but aside from perhaps Shane Long, Nathan Redmond and the full-backs, they don’t have the players that can get up the field as quickly as they need too.
The addition of the Arsenal winger would certainly go some way to eradicating that issue as he is renowned for being one of the quickest in the Premier League, and he would add another dimension to the south coast outfit’s frontline.
Experience
Whether it is the likes of Nathan Redmond, James Ward-Prowse or Sofiane Boufal, Southampton have often found themselves making the wrong decisions in the final third this season as they go in search of that elusive goal.
The aforementioned trio still aren’t hugely experienced at this level, and that is something that Walcott would bring to the Saints frontline having featured for Arsenal in the Premier League for so many years as well as being a regular in the Champions League.
By now the 28-year-old should be able to be relied upon to show some composure and bit of patience in and around the penalty area, and that is what the south coast outfit needs right now.
Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.