Everton signing Arsenal's Theo Walcott for only £20m was a no-brainer admits Sam Allardyce
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Pay just £20million for a Premier League forward who scored 19 goals last season? To Sam Allardyce, the response was instant: ‘It’s a no-brainer’.
So Theo Walcott returns to the Emirates on Saturday evening two weeks after leaving, having confirmed Allardyce’s analysis in just 14 first half minutes on Wednesday night, with two goals announcing his arrival at Everton .
As the dust settles on Arsenal’s transfer window activity, one glaring trend becomes apparent: They have flogged off the crown jewels in football terms — goals.
Walcott hit those 19 last term, while Alexis Sanchez got 30 and Olivier Giroud 16.
(Image: Everton FC via Getty)
So Arsene Wenger has gambled on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrik Mkhitrayan proving to be consistent scorers... and financed it by selling 64 goals from last season.
For Everton, there is no such gamble on Walcott, with £20m at today’s eye-watering prices looking like the steal of the January window.
And while Allardyce drew the line at directly criticising old foe Wenger, he admitted he didn’t need a second thought on whether to sign the England international — because goals are priceless currency in the Premier League.
“I can’t say what Arsene thinks but the opportunity to take a player with last season’s goals record and that quality wasn’t a big decision for me,” he explained, before the Blues' trip to north London.
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“The bigger decision was (£25m for) Cenk Tosun because that is a much bigger risk (on a player new to English football) but we are short of goals.
“With Theo, a lot of things have been said - he hasn’t reached his full potential and all that – but I don’t know how you could say that after last season’s performance: 30-odd games, 19 goals.
“He can be a key player for Everton now.”
Walcott quick return to face his previous club couldn’t be more painfully timed for Wenger — his Arsenal side lost heavily to Swansea in midweek, while the 28-year-old - who he strangely ignored all season before flogging him off on the cheap – was producing a fine display against Leicester, capped by two brilliant goals.
(Image: Reuters)
The message won’t be lost on Gunners fans wondering about their activity in the window, as the club swapped proven goal-scoring quality for risky potential.
If Walcott’s move to Merseyside was a surprise, then perhaps the bigger shock was the relatively low fee, which looks a fine piece of business for a player who was the third-highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League last season.
Yet Allardyce defended Wenger’s decision to sell at that price when he explained: “I think a lot of negotiation was done by Theo: Because of his service to the club and the fact he would accept what Arsene was doing — he is not a troublesome player who would throw the toys out of the pram — that respect between him and the club resulted in the move.
“He could have gone back to his hometown club Southampton, who were our big rivals, but the challenge he sees at Everton – can he get Everton to where they want to be? - he would help in that.
“There are no easy negotiations with Arsenal, believe you me, but eventually the insistence for the first time ever from Theo that he wanted to leave, plus the respect they have for each other and the service he gave, probably was a factor.”
Allardyce sees the partnership Walcott can forge down the right flank with full-back Seamus Coleman – who he described as “superhuman” after his incredible comeback from 10 months of injury on Wednesday, as being key over the next few years.
(Image: Getty)
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
And if he had one message about the player’s quality, then it was this: “I think if he’d have been playing a lot this year, he would have been happy to finish his career at Arsenal.
“That’s the level. This time around, because he wasn’t getting his game time, he looked at his career and decided he had to leave. He chose us and he can be a key player for us.”
Allardyce will check on Coleman before the game.
Young striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is set to return after a break, and new defender Eliaquim Mangala is likely to be on the bench after his deadline-beating loan from Manchester City.