Theo Walcott has exuded confidence following Arsenal’s narrow win in the opening round of the UEFA Champions League group stage against Olympique Marseille, and has suggested that the squad can carry that form throughout the season to pose a serious threat to the Barclays Premier League crown.
The Gunners have been without a trophy for nearly a decade, and the patient supporters nearly started to accept the fact that their squad targeted not more than a top four spot. However, Arsene Wenger has been steadily strengthening his squad over the past few months. The crux of the problem can be taken back to the capital required to be raised for the development of the club’s current home, the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal were based at Highbury, not far away from the Emirates, but the small capacity of the former led to the club wanting to move to a state-of-the-art facility that would be an internationally recognized sporting venue with the latest technology. The club needed heavy funding for the stadium project, and that meant the squad could not be replenished with high-profile signings for some seasons consequently. While the club dealt with a major blow by the departures of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Gael Clichy, Alex Song and Samir Nasri, these sales provided the club with enough ground to recover the funds, and start on a fresh slate with surplus funds available this summer for Wenger to invest. With the arrival of Mesut Ozil on a club record £42.4 million transfer from Real Madrid, Arsenal have made a statement, and let the other clubs know that their inactivity in the windows previously has ended for good.
Walcott has been an integral part of this rebuilding process under the leadership of Wenger. The England international, who was brought from Southampton as a potential star, has now taken the stand as one of the club’s main strikers, and has contributed in multiple ways to the development of the squad.
According to Metro, Walcott is confident about Arsenal’s intentions of challenging for the title.
He said, “I think we’ll push on and we can definitely challenge this year, for sure,
“There is so much belief in this team at the moment and I think it’s showing.”