Theo left like thief in night
There were no big goodbyes from his team-mates at the club where he had spent 12 years; just a few security men witnessed him darting in and out as the £20million deal that would take him to Everton neared completion.
It was “surreal”, according to Walcott – but also symbolic of how his Arsenal career fizzled out, with not a single league start this season as he became a peripheral figure at a club he joined when he was 16.
But while it may have been a night-time departure, Walcott believes he has a bright future.
In fact, he claims the “best is yet to come” and that swapping the Gunners for the Toffees is not a step down.
“I had to go at night, it was quiet there – there were just a couple of security guards. All I had to put my boots in were some bin bags,” said Walcott, 28, who would have preferred a different goodbye as he holds no grudges.
“It wasn’t the way I would have wanted to have left, but knowing it wasn’t official yet, that no one knew about it, and I got a sense that people would have been a bit surprised at how quickly it developed, I had to get my stuff very quickly.”
It may have been a fast exit but Walcott knew as far back as April that his days at Arsenal were numbered. It was the day the Gunners were beaten 3-0 by Crystal Palace, managed by his new boss Sam Allardyce, when Walcott had been hauled off by Arsene Wenger with 20 minutes remaining.
“There was a period last season when the starts weren’t coming any more,” said Walcott, who still scored 19 goals last term. “We had that game at Palace and after that there was the odd performance off the bench, but... the conversations between me and the manager will always stay in the room.
“I have respect for him and he had respect for me and how my feelings were developing. That’s why I felt it was time to go.
“I wish the club all the best, I want them to develop, I want them to improve. Obviously there has been quite a lot of negativity around the place, but I’m an Everton player now and my main concern is being here and performing well.
“It was a difficult decision. You have been somewhere for 12 years, you know so many people, met so many great people, and the fans have been great to me.
“That bit of enjoyment might not have been there for the last few months, not being part of something, so it’s quite hard to take when you’ve been at a club for such a long time.
“It hasn’t even hit me properly yet. When I go back there it will hit me – it has been my life, my family.
“I don’t like putting regrets on things, so I feel proud of what I’ve achieved at the club.”
Walcott has signed a contract at Everton until 2021 admitting the club’s ambition, Allardyce and Wayne Rooney’s golf club recommendations lured him to Merseyside.
“Still being only 28, it’s young and the best years are to come,” he said. “To do it in an Everton shirt just felt right, everything about this move felt right.
“I feel Everton, particularly going into next season, can really push on and reach the top six and try to make the Champions League. I like that. I’m very ambitious.
“I don’t see it as a step down, I see it as an opportunity to step forward and help the club get to where they should be and can be.” Allardyce has not yet finished his transfer business in this window, but admits he will have to cut the wage bill if he is to sign the left-back he wants.
Davy Klaassen and Sandro Ramirez are two players Everton will listen to offers for, with neither summer signing having settled.
“We can’t find a left-back,” said Allardyce. “What we could find has been massively expensive and that has been a real problem. Most of the clubs don’t want to let their leftbacks go.
“There are 32 or 33 pros here and six or seven on loan – that’s too big and needs reducing.”