Theo Walcott seems to be using this pre-season to prove to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger that he can play as a lone centre forward.
The England international was given a chance through the middle at the end of the 2014-15 campaign and found the net four times in two matches, including one in the FA Cup final.
With Danny Welbeck nursing a knee injury which will sideline him for the start of the Premier League season, as the Daily Express reports, Wenger is experimenting with Walcott the striker again.
The 26-year-old used his lightning pace to score in a 3-1 victory over Everton last week, and was on the scoresheet again this afternoon in Arsenal’s Emirates Cup clash against Wolfsburg.
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Walcott raced onto a through ball from 17-year-old midfielder Jeff Rene-Adelaide, making his full debut for the club, to poke beyond the Wolfsburg goalkeeper and give the Gunners a 1-0 lead on 50 minutes.
Walcott missed much of last term with a serious knee injury and only managed four starts in the Premier League. He scored on five occasions – once more than Welbeck, who made 25 appearances in total.
Arsenal’s longest-seving player has 76 goals in 302 games as a Gunner, although many of those outings will have been as a right winger despite his training as a central striker while at Southampton.
The Mirror reported this morning that Walcott had agreed a new four-year contract with the North Londoners worth £100,000 per week. He would otherwise be a free agent at the end of this season.
Perhaps it is the promise of more opportunities through the middle which has persuaded Walcott to commit himself to Arsenal, who will be hopeful that his goals can fire them to the title in 2015-16.
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