Arsenal failed to bring in a striker despite their reported attempts to sign the likes of Simone Zaza and Karim Benzema among others. As a result, Theo Walcott has been given what he has been hankering for – a central role and he has now claimed that he could do a decent job up front.

The Gunners strikers have been widely censured for not being clinical, but goals seem to steadily coming as of late. The English international, despite scoring only two goals in eight outings, admitted his delight over spearheading the lineup and stated that his runs could be decisive.

 “The goals are coming, which is great,” he told. “I have always said to the manager that I can always play in a three-man forward line so it is a good option for him. At the moment he believes I can do it up front and the more I play up front, the more the players will see the runs I make and what I do on the pitch as well.

“I will be judged on the number of goals I score. You can play the best game in the world but if you don’t score it doesn’t mean anything. But I’m very confident I can do a job up front.”

The former Southampton starlet has often been slammed for not holding the play up like a proper striker and he admitted the same as he stated that he would definitely learn that aspect of the game that Olivier Giroud has perfected.

“Up front you need to do the different side of the game such as holding it up for your team-mates and trying to play people in. The players with a big build like Olivier Giroud do that tremendously well.

“It is something I will definitely learn and get better at but if I can create more space for other players to come into the game, that is important as well. There are loads of different scenarios that can happen up front so I can play in any one of those three.”

Theo Walcott can be expected to be a part of the starting eleven that Arsene Wenger would land at King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon after being rested in the 1-2 League Cup victory over rivals Tottenham Hotspur.