West Ham are reportedly closing in on signing Arsenal out-of-favour winger Theo Walcott, with the player frustrated at his lack of first-team action.
According to the Sun, the Hammers are plotting to tempt Arsenal with £20 million offer for the forward. The 27-year-old has had to endure a difficult season due to injuries and inconsistency, which has limited his appearances.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic reportedly has a transfer budget of £50 million to spend this summer to overhaul the squad as they prepare to move to their new base, Olympic Stadium this summer, and he plans to splash 40 percent of that on the acquisition of Walcott.
West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan said: “We’ve put a bid in today for 30million Euros for a player, and other bids will be going in. “We’re going to make a £20m or £25m bid for a player in England later this week. Whatever happens we intend to bring a top striker in. “We’re hoping to bring in one or two top players. The Olympic Stadium gives us about £12m a year in extra income. It doesn’t give us £100m a year in extra income”
According to the reports from Independent, Manchester City and Chelsea Fc has been linked with a move for Walcott earlier this season, on the other hand, the Hammers in their bid to break into the top four has convinced the England forward to move to the Gunners rivals where he can assume more first-team opportunities than at the two interested clubs in need of his services.
The England international who is also Man City radar is reportedly expected to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer in search of regular football, bringing down the curtain on his 10-year-relationship with the club.
Wenger planning an overhaul of his squad, has grown impatience with the forward’s form, with the Frenchman admitting that Walcott has not developed as expected and he would be allowed to leave.
He has fallen down the pecking order with Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Iwobi all preferred ahead of him, and his progress has been hindered by injuries.
The Gunners boss has been linked with Real Madrid Lucas Vascuqez and Borussia Mondglabach Granite Dhaka as potential replacements for the former Southampton player.
He joined Arsenal from Southampton in 2006 and has made 231 appearances and scored 85 goals in all competitions, winning the FA Cup twice.
However, despite Walcott development that has been hindered by the team manager uncertainty over his best position, having swapped him from the right wing to lead striker on numerous occasions and with the number of injuries he has encountered his 231 appearances for the gunners is incredibly and outstanding performances.
