Arsenal favourite reveals how close he came to completing transfer to West Brom
Theo Walcott, the former Arsenal, Southampton and Everton attacker, almost joined West Brom in the transfer window of 2022.
Former Arsenal, Everton and England forward Theo Walcott has revealed that he briefly spoke to West Bromwich Albion about completing a move to The Hawthorns towards the end of his career, but he ultimately decided against the move in order to remain with boyhood club Southampton.
Walcott came through the St Mary’s academy before he moved to Arsenal in 2006. He spent 12 years at the Emirates Stadium, where he scored 108 goals in 397 appearances before he relocated to Everton in January 2018 – and he actually made his Toffees debut against Albion, setting up their equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park
In 2020, after two and a half years on Merseyside, Walcott was granted a return to Southampton and he concluded his career back on the south coast, retiring at the age of 34 following Saints’ relegation to the Championship in 2023. The summer previous, though, he could’ve moved to Albion, who were managed by Steve Bruce at the time.
Speaking to Bruce’s son Alex, who was on the Baggies’ coaching staff, Walcott considered what would’ve been a loan move late in the transfer window – the same period in which Albion rather infamously missed out on deals for Josh Onomah and Steven Alzate – but Walcott, who was wedded to the idea of finishing his career at Southampton, chose to stay put.
“I moved to Southampton from Everton, which was on loan. It wasn’t on deadline day but it was quite late,” Walcott told BBC Radio 5Live. “I took a pay cut, but it wasn’t about the money at that stage for me because I’d already mapped out where I wanted finish my career. I did everything I could to return to Southampton.
It can be exciting. I had an instance when I was at Southampton where I could’ve gone to West Brom. I was speaking to Alex Bruce at the club, and obviously his old man was the manager at the time, but I just didn’t think it suited me. You can get some random things and it can be quite exciting.”
Albion also tried to bring Walcott to the Black Country in 2018; prior to that move to Everton and debuting against Albion, Alan Pardew confirmed that he had spoken to the winger about helping the club’s cause in their eventually futile effort to avoid relegation.
“With players like Theo, is it a straight deal or something which could be a loan and a deal in the summer? All these equations have to be discussed,” Pardew confirmed at the time. “If you’re asking me did we discuss Theo? Yeah, we did, but it was pretty evident after a few phone calls that it wasn’t going to be the case.”
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