Theo Walcott shares ‘one reason’ he didn’t leave Arsenal earlier, it’d never happen under Arteta

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Theo Walcott has revealed the ‘one reason’ he didn’t leave Arsenal earlier than some fans believe the former winger should have.

The ex-England international is a modern Arsenal icon having spent 12 years at the Emirates Stadium and playing close to 400 games in all competitions for the Gunners, winning two FA Cups and scoring 108 goals.

Leaving for Everton in 2017, Walcott arguably spent one or two years too many at Arsenal as the winger saw his game time limited under Arsene Wenger in their final seasons together in north London.

And Walcott has now shared what the main reason was behind staying at Arsenal.

Walcott comfortable with regular football and top-four finishes at Arsenal

Speaking on Up Front, the former Southampton attacker shared how comfortable he felt with his standing at Arsenal and the goals that were set by the club during his main years in north London, with top-four always the main objective.

As stated by Walcott himself, this mindset is something that will not fly at Arsenal now under Arteta, who has transformed the mentality of the Gunners to such an extent where the Premier League title is now the main goal for the season.

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Walcott said: “Mikel’s changed that whole dynamic of what it was like. People really enjoyed playing football, making top-four, and we were happy, because that’s essentially what the group was. We were happy playing football, playing some entertaining football, getting top-four.

“The switch of mindset of the Invincibles moved to that, and then you can get in a pattern where you join that group or you move on. I stayed in it and I was okay with that. I didn’t need people to say ‘you need to be ambitious and go’. I don’t really, quite frankly, that’s fine, people can have that opinion, but I was happy playing and enjoying that space. So that’s for one reason why I didn’t leave.”

Walcott’s generation laid the foundation for Arteta to thrive at Arsenal

With Arsenal suffering the financial consequences of building the Emirates Stadium, aiming for top-four and ensuring UEFA Champions League revenue was coming in on an annual basis was key to the Gunners remaining a big side in the Premier League.

Yet the lessons learned during this generation at Arsenal also laid the foundation for Arteta to thrive at the job he is now doing with the Gunners, where heading into next season, the north London side could be the favourites for the title.

Indeed, Arteta saw first hand what Walcott was experiencing in what Arsenal’s goals were during this period of the club’s history, and the Basque coach has now used the lessons acquired to help transform the north London side into their former best in just a few short years.