LONDON — Manchester United are ready to give up on their pursuit of Theo Walcott with the Arsenal forward set to sign a new contract at the club by the end of the week. Report by Daily Mail
The Walcott saga has been the latest contract row to envelope the club in recent seasons and Sir Alex Ferguson was keen to bring the 23-year-old to Old Trafford after he refused to sign a new deal at the Emirates before Christmas.
The England star turned down one offer of a new deal — reportedly worth £75 000 a week — in the summer and failed to reach an agreement as the player looked for closer to £100 000.
But Arsene Wenger has finally reached a compromise with a player he cannot afford to lose and Walcott is set to put pen to paper by the time Arsenal face Manchester City on Sunday.
Walcott is Arsenal’s top scorer this season with 14 goals in all competitions, already his best total in a single campaign since moving to the north London club from Southampton in 2006.
He is also Arsenal’s top scorer in the Barclays Premier League with eight.
Walcott wants to operate as a central striker and has recently proved his worth in that position.
“He definitely has all the attributes to play up front,” said teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Walcott recently. “The goals are coming. He has proven he can do a really good job for us up there.
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“For someone with his pace, it’s hard for anyone to defend against and when he gets the service he can always punish teams so he’s doing really well.”
