After months of worrying for Arsenal fans, top scorer Theo Walcott has finally put pen to paper to sign a new contract with the Gunners.

Theo’s new deal, which keeps him at the club for the next three and a half years, is believed to be worth £100,000 per week, and included a £3 million signing on fee, which makes him the highest paid player at Arsenal now.

Good News

Arsenal fans will be relieved to hear the news, after losing Robin Van Persie and Mathieu Flamini in recent years over the board’s failure to offer them good enough contracts. This fear seemed set to become reality again when Arsenal announced the signing of new deals by the other young British players of Wilshere, Ramsey, Gibbs, Jenkinson and Oxlade-Chamberlain, though thankfully the forward has now joined them in staying at the Emirates for the foreseeable future.

On signing the contract Theo Walcott expressed his delight as he said:

“I have made it clear from the start that I wanted to stay at Arsenal so I am pleased we have agreed a deal that everyone is happy with. What’s important now is for the team to realise its potential and win trophies.”

Problem solved?

Though the signing of the new contract comes as great news to fans, it by no means solves our problems.

The need for Walcott to sign has been more and more desperate as the season has progressed, after seeing how Van Persie’s replacements, Podolski and Giroud, have hardly failed to fill his boots, and have only shone brightly in patches.

However, whether the signing of this contract by the forward will necessarily reap the desired benefits for Arsenal remains to be seen, as there is still the worry that Walcott could rediscover his inconsistent form, which has blighted his spell at Arsenal.

Money or Ambition?

Walcott had previously rejected contracts offered to him by the board, which included £90,000 per week on a five year deal.

His new deal has seen the board bow to his pressure and landed him with a healthy package on a comparatively short contract that offers him a chance to join another club soon.

So, is his new contract just a short-term money making deal with a club he likes, or is this the board showing a new promise of ambition?

For now though let’s just be glad that the board have actually come up with the goods for once, and that we don’t have to see another one of our top players leave the club.

Hopefully Walcott can celebrate his new deal by firing us to glory at Stamford Bridge at the weekend.

Latest: