Southampton are weighing up an emotional reunion with Arsenal forward Theo Walcott as they plot a rebuild of their squad with the funds raised from the sale of Virgil van Dijk.
The Saints agreed a £75million fee with Liverpool for van Dijk and intend to use some, but likely not all, of the windfall in the January window to strengthen Mauricio Pellegrino’s squad.
The Southampton manager has confirmed he wants to bring in “a couple of players minimum” and has also been linked with Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and Fulham hot shot Ryan Sessegnon.
They could turn to Walcott, who came through their youth academy and played 23 games for them before joining Arsenal for £9million as a 16-year-old in January 2006.
Walcott has proven to be a shrewd investment over the last 12 years, scoring 108 goals in all competitions and making more appearances for Arsene Wenger than any Arsenal player other than Patrick Vieira.
However the 28-year-old has struggled for first-team opportunities since Wenger switched away from a 4-2-3-1 system in April, since when he has only started one league game. Indeed this season he has managed only 47 minutes in the top flight and featured only once since October 1 after struggling with illness.
Wenger assured Walcott in late October that “his time in the Premier League will come” and he is still considered a valuable member of the first team, particularly with Olivier Giroud out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
Walcott has, though, spoken of a desire to make an England World Cup squad for the first time since 2006, when Sven-Goran Erikkson gambled on him before he had played for Arsenal and then never played him in the tournament. His bid to return to the Three Lions setup would certainly not be aided by another six months on the Emirates sidelines.
