Theo Walcott is close to signing a new four-year contract extension at Arsenal. The 26-year-old is set to commit himself to Arsenal until 2019, and until his 30th birthday.
Walcott is entering the final year of his contract, and Arsène Wenger is looking to avoid the situation of two-and-a-half years ago when the Englishman's contract ran into its last six months.
The attacker is committing himself to Arsenal beyond his 30th birthday, and Arsenal's current longest serving player is set to make his stay in London nearly 13 years long.
Walcott craves a central striker role at Arsenal
Walcott was preferred to Olivier Giroud in the last two games of the season, and he repaid Wenger's faith in him with a hat-trick against West Brom and then opening the scoring against Aston Villa in the FA Cup final. His late season form could give Wenger a selection headache going into the new season.
He requested a central striker role when he signed his previous contract in January 2013, but injuries have partly curtailed his striker dream. This new contract could get him the role that he wants, which will be competition to Giroud and Danny Welbeck up-front.
Walcott is settled at Arsenal, despite interest from Chelsea and Liverpool, and is therefore ready to commit to a new contract to replace to his current £100,000-a- week deal. Walcott was sure of signing a contract at Arsenal after the 4-0 win over Aston Villa in the FA Cup final saying "I know things will get resolved".
This news about Walcott's new contract comes a day after Petr Cech's move from Chelsea to Arsenal.
Walcott celebrated the goalkeeper's move on Twitter by posting a picture of him scoring his first Arsenal goal, against Cech, in the 2007 League Cup final with the caption: "@theowalcott: Scored my first ever arsenal goal against him - delighted to welcome @petrcech to @arsenal !!! #WelcomeCech".
