The last sighting of Theo Walcott
in an Arsenal shirt was a pretty depressing one.
The 18-year-old, on as a late substitute at Goodison Park in March,
left the field clutching his arm after falling heavily in the
Everton penalty area. A couple of days later he had surgery to
correct a troubling shoulder problem.
Walcott is much better now. The operation was a success and he is
kicking a ball again after a frustrating couple of months. Now
Walcott is looking forward to making his mark when the new season
gets underway in August.
"It's been seven and a half weeks since the operation and
everything is going well," said Walcott in an exclusive interview
with Arsenal.com.
"I've started light training with the ball and running. The
operation had to be done, everyone saw when it happened at Everton.
It feels so much better now, I feel so good.
"I have two more days left [at the training ground] and then I'll
come back two weeks before pre-season starts with Robin [van
Persie] and Thierry [Henry]. So that's when my season starts. I'm
really looking forward to it.
"I will be fully fit for the new season, as long as I have a good
pre-season and don't pick up any injuries. I'll be raring to go.
The same goes for the whole squad really."
There is no 'right' time to go under the knife but, for Walcott,
his visit to the surgeon came at a particularly bad time.
Injuries to Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie had already
decimated Arsenal's striking options with two months of the
campaign remaining. Walcott's presence would have eased the
pressure on Emmanuel Adebayor up front and given the teenager
valuable match time at the top level.
But, as Walcott explained, he had no option but to cure an injury
which had troubled him throughout his first full season at
Arsenal.
"I played with it the whole season but it gradually got worse," he
said. "It kept on popping out and it concerned me, it was always in
my head that it would happen again.
"I started playing with a strapping and that wasn't comfortable at
all. It helped a little bit but the operation had to be done. I
couldn't play in that kind of pain.
"At some stages I was playing with one arm, effectively. I was too
scared to try and push people off with my arm because it kept
popping out. It wasn't nice at all."