TheSportsCampus

Theo Walcott has been in blistering form this season and Arsenal have been struggling to tie down the young forward to a new long-term deal at the club as talks repeatedly break down over his wage demands and his desire to be deployed in a central striking role. Arsene Wenger has now claimed that he is not willing to sell his star winger in January even if he does not sign a new deal with the club.

Walcott’s current contract with the club expires at the end of the season and Wenger had earlier admitted to the possibility of making a sale if a deal fails to materialize before the January transfer window. However, the winger is leading Arsenal’s goalscorers this season, with 9 goals to his name and Wenger is considering keeping him on till the end of his contract.

Wenger was quoted by ESPN as saying, “Will he stay until the end of the season? Yes. My intention has always been to keep Theo. We continue to talk and the ambition is to find an agreement."

Liverpool and Manchester City are firmly in the chase for the 23 year-old’s signature and were reportedly willing to pay about £10 million for the player during the winter transfer window. Liverpool could up their bid significantly as they face a drought of forwards although Wenger seems vehement about keeping Walcott at the Emirates.

It is quite unlikely though that Theo would want to join either of these sides, with Liverpool unable to offer European football, and Man City unlikely to be able to even grant him a regular starting berth.

Wenger has made such audacious claims earlier too, in the cases of Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie but was eventually forced to offload them to avoid losing them for free. It is unlikely that the Arsenal board will allow Wenger to go ahead with these plans and his earlier statement about hoping to reach an agreement with Walcott's representatives by Christmas appears to sound more realistic.