Theo Walcott looks to join the highest-paid players at Arsenal as he gets closer to putting pen to paper on a new contract. The 25-year-old winger is the longest serving first-team player currently at the club, along with Abou Diaby. Walcott missed the second half of last season and the first three months of the 2014-15 season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in January.
Walcott signed a new three-year deal in January 2013 after months of speculation, in which he was notably linked to Liverpool on a number of occasions. With 18 months left on his current deal, manager Arsène Wenger feels that now is the right time to tie the player down, with his best years still to come.
"We are starting to sit down with him. I think he has one and a half years to go on his contract in December and it is never an easy job with him, you know. Will he be at his peak in the next few years? He should be, yes. He is 25. It is the best years now so hopefully we can profit from that."
Walcott has made 282 appearances for the Gunners since joining as a 16-year old back in 2006, scoring 69 goals. His best goalscoring season came in 2012-13, when the Englishman scored 21 goals in 43 matches. He has also played 36 times for his nation, scoring five goals in total.
