Well disregard those earlier reports that said that Arsenal’s Theo Walcott would be out for only a month recovering from his knee injury picked up against Spurs at the weekend.
Walcott went for a scan on Monday and the results we not good if you are an Arsenal or England fan. An Arsenal statement read:
After coming off injured in Saturday’s 2-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, the Club regrettably announces that Theo Walcott has sustained a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee.
Theo will have surgery in London in the near future and is expected to be out for at least six months, therefore missing the remainder of the season and the World Cup in Brazil in the summer.
Everyone at Arsenal wishes Theo a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing him back on a football pitch as soon as possible.
Walcott will obviously miss the rest of the season as well as this summer’s World Cup.
This is a massive blow to the Gunners. After scoring 21 goals last season, Walcott has battled injuries all season, scoring just six goals.
Before he got injured against Spurs, I thought Walcott was having a brilliant game in the number nine role. His movement was terrific and he was a real handful for the Spurs defenders.
During the game I was ready to buy in Arsene Wenger’s “we don’t need another striker” philosophy. With Walcott and Giroud, Arsenal have a really good one-two pair. But with Walcott out for the season Arsenal will certainly need to bring in a top striker this month, before if Giroud gets injured the title race is over.
My preference is Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa, whose buyout clause is reported to be around £32m. That might be difficult as Atletico are battling for trophies on three fronts this season and can go top of La Liga next weekend if they beat Barcelona at home.
If the Costa deal is put off until the summer, then why not bring in Dimitar Berbatov on a six-month deal. He is cheap, has proven he can score in the Premier League, is eligible for the Champions League and this style fits with Arsenal’s style of play.
Do you think that Arsene Wenger will splash the cash this month and bring in a top quality striker? If so, who will he sign?