Arsene Wenger has claimed that he has no plans to sell Theo Walcott at the end of the season. The Arsenal manager has also said that talks are ongoing with the 26 year old and that he is keen to keep the player at the Emirates side.
Walcott has just a year remaining in his current contract and has featured only thrice ever since his return from a 10-month injury absence in November. Liverpool are believed to be interested in Walcott, thus it is a tricky situation for Arsenal to deal with the player’s demands.
Wenger said, “We are already talking to him. Today I’m not in that mode of thinking [about Walcott’s possible departure] because I just think I want him to stay. When you go into negotiations with a player it is with a desire for him to stay. He looks keen to do it and I am keen to do it, so let’s see what comes out.”
Wenger had earlier also said that it was tough to persuade Walcott the last time the club and the player had entered negotiations and the Frenchman would definitely want to avoid such a situation once again.
In other news, the Telegraph reports that the Gunners are also unwilling to let go Carl Jenkinson leave for anything less than £10m to West Ham United in the summer transfer window. It doesn’t come as a surprise as Barcelona could exercise a buy-back option on Héctor Bellerín in the near future.
Wenger said, “I met Carl this week to speak about his future,” said Wenger. “We will sit down together at the end of the season. He had a great season for me and he has moved forward and overall he has gained a lot of confidence. The decision I have to make is do I bring him back now or does he need one more year now to play in the Premier League? It is not decided yet.”
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