Walcott’s revival a boost for Arsenal

london — Out of favour with Arsenal and exiled by England, Theo Walcott reached a crossroads at the end of last season and his emphatic response looks to have saved a career in danger of imploding.

Walcott started only one of Arsenal’s final 14 matches last term and lost his place in Roy Hodgson’s England squad at the end of a miserable campaign that appeared to shatter the winger’s dreams of ever cementing himself as a key figure for club or country.

Now, just months later, ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League group fixture against Swiss side Basel, he has reestablished himself as one of Arsenal’s main men thanks to a desperate close-season bid for redemption.

At 27, Walcott should have been in his prime, but somehow it seemed appropriate that a player with electric pace but a frustrating habit of failing to deliver the telling cross or clinical finish, now found himself firmly on the periphery after a career that once promised to make him a global star.

Faced with the possibility of being sold by Arsenal and forgotten by England, Walcott decided on a summit meeting that laid the foundations for his recent renaissance.

He sat down with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger and his lieutenant Steve Bould to work out how to get back on track and the advice he received was simple and to the point — get tougher physically and mentally.

Walcott took the talk to heart and worked with a personal trainer throughout the close-season in a bid to significantly improve his fitness and strength, even working on many of his days off to stay ahead of schedule. —