GUNNING FOR THE GUNNERS
Everton have got their money, they’ve bought one of their players in Walcott.. now they want to overhaul Arsenal and take their spot in Prem elite
FIRST Farhad Moshiri and his millions quit Arsenal for Everton.
Now Theo Walcott has followed him to Goodison Park after 12 years with the Gunners for £20m. But Everton haven’t finished taking from Arsenal yet. They want their place at the Premier League’s top table. Walcott’s signing lifts Everton’s spending this month close to £50m. That’s on top of the £150m they splashed out in the summer and is another sign of their huge ambition. Their long-term aim is to challenge the top four and overhauling Arsenal is the first step.
The signings of Walcott and £27m striker Cenk Tosun can help achieve this and the England winger claims the Blues are on the up.
“I’m very ambitious and I’ve come here because I want the club to push to the next level,” said Walcott, who has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal worth over £100,000 a week.
“And with the players that have come in, I feel like that level can be reached.
“I’m very excited to be starting a new chapter and felt this was the right place for me.”
Walcott, 28, is impressed by Everton’s potential and in particular, their planned move to their new Bramley Dock Stadium in 2022.
He is aware of their glorious past and wants to help them end their 23-year trophy drought. “Everton is a club with a great history,” he said. “The club has won trophies in the past, but I want them to win trophies now.
“The manager is very hungry and it’s just what I need. I’ve had a couple of chats with him and straight away I felt that hunger and that desire he wanted from me. I need that and I wanted that.
“I want to be part of something which he’s building.
“The fact there’s a new stadium going to be developing in the next few years, it’s exciting times for Everton FC.”
Manager Sam Allardyce persuaded Walcott to snub his old club Southampton and Bournemouth to move north because of the exciting vision he sold him of the club’s future.
Walcott was the third highest-scoring English player last season with 19 goals and Big Sam feels Everton are getting him in his prime. He feels Walcott could prove to be a snip in today’s crazy transfer market.
“There was a bit of a chase between a couple of clubs, but after we set out the ambitions of the club and my ambitions for him, he was motivated to come here and refreshed in his mind by this new challenge,” said the Everton boss.
“He wants to play every week and really take his career forward again.
“Hopefully, it will prove to be exceptionally good value for money. He’s in his prime, too, and I’m just delighted we’ve got him.”