Everton are prepared to sell Theo Walcott this summer, according to The Mirror (print edition, March 29th), via HITC, with Carlo Ancelotti having been left unimpressed by the winger.
The report claims that the former England international will be allowed to leave Goodison Park if the club receive a firm offer, although it is speculated that the player’s £7million annual salary could prove to be a stumbling block.
Signed for £20million by Sam Allardyce in January 2018, Walcott was a success initially, however, he failed to live up to expectations under Marco Silva.
Earlier this season, the 31-year seemingly found a second wind and began to impress for the Blues, with fans giving him credit where credit was due for turning his personal fortunes around.
However, a number of fitness issues have seen Walcott fail to string together an extended run of games this season, and now Ancelotti has seemingly made a decisive decision over where his future lies.
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With Walcott entering the final 12 months of his contract at Goodison Park, it perhaps isn’t at all surprising to see that Everton are attempting to cash in before losing him for nothing, with it looking extremely unlikely that he’ll be handed a new deal.
That being said, the bigger question comes concerning who could replace Walcott going forward, with Everton not having an abundance of options or resources to spend significantly in the transfer window.
Walcott is currently Everton’s only natural right-sided winger, and with Marcel Brands claiming in January that Ancelotti needed to reinforce that position, losing Walcott would mean the Italian would need to bring in two players.
With Everton having announced record financial losses earlier in the season, financial fair play is likely to play a part in Everton’s spending going forward, and any unnecessary expense should be avoided.
Walcott isn’t the answer going forward, but I do question whether allowing him to leave given the current shape of Everton’s squad and their limited depth in options is the right decision.
