Theo Walcott spoke to Hampshire Live about playing for Southampton again after almost 15 years.
The Englishman joined the Saints on a season-long loan deal from Everton on transfer deadline day. The Toffees spent £20 million to sign Walcott from Arsenal in January 2018, (BBC) but things didn’t quite work out for him there.
He played 85 times in all competitions for Everton but managed just 11 goals and nine assists in his two-and-a-half years there. Walcott struggled for game time at Goodison Park, and James Rodriguez’s arrival made it even more difficult for him to stay.
The former Arsenal man claims that he enjoyed every minute of his time at Everton, but when the opportunity to join Southampton opened up, it was something he couldn’t say no to.
He said: “I actually first heard about it all three days before deadline day. As soon I heard about it I said: ‘This had to happen, this needs to happen. I really want this to happen’.”
“Carlo [Ancelotti], Marcel [Brands] and myself have a really good relationship where we can get things sorted and they helped to make it happen in the end which I was really grateful for. My time at Everton was absolutely brilliant and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
“But my focus now is here (at Southampton) and let’s see where the future lies for me. I am dead excited though, I can’t wait to put on the shirt, honestly. I feel like I am a kid again, like a big kid.”
Walcott has entered the final year of his Everton contract. At the end of his loan spell at Southampton, he will have to sit down and think about his future as a free agent, which will not be easy.
However, if he can perform as well as he did back during his prime at Arsenal, the Saints will likely offer him a deal, and he can be a massive player for them in the final few years of his career.
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