Theo Walcott suggests £42m player he played with at Arsenal was actually a bit lazy

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Theo Walcott played with many great players during his time at Arsenal.

The Gunners had the likes of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Sol Campbell and Jens Lehmann when the Englishman joined the club back in 2006.

Walcott spent over a decade at the Emirates, and rubbed shoulders with stars of the next generation like Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Alexis Sanchez as well.

The rapid winger was also at Arsenal when Mesut Ozil arrived. He has now implied something that the German will not like.

Theo Walcott suggests Mesut Ozil was lazy at Arsenal

Arsenal signed Ozil from Real Madrid for £42 million on deadline day in 2013.

The German was the club’s record signing at the time, and he was arguably the first superstar arrival at the Emirates Stadium.

Ozil was a joy to watch when he was in full flow. He was one of the greatest creators of that generation and could unlock any defence on his day.

However, the former Schalke man often came under criticism for his work rate off the ball. He was described as being lazy by many pundits back then.

Theo Walcott may have just done the same.

In a video on Amazon Prime Video Sport, the former Arsenal star asked Jake Whitehall what kind of player he would be if he played today.

When the comedian called himself lazy, Walcott quickly compared him to Ozil. Here’s how their conversation went…

Whitehall: “I sort of see myself, when I played, as in more of a free role.”

Walcott: “The Eze?”

Whitehall: “Eze, I feel is moving into different positions and taking up the space and dropping back because he’s got the vision. Mine was more laziness. I didn’t want to commit to one particular position. If anything, I just mainly tried to avoid tracking back.”

Walcott: “I know who you are. Mesut Ozil. Ozil.”

Whitehall: “So basically, I’m like Salah is now without the going forward bit, because he doesn’t really track back.”

Walcott added later: “So you’re the Ozil. Technically excellent, however, at times I don’t want to do the dirty work.”

What Arsene Wenger said when Mesut Ozil was called ‘lazy’ at Arsenal

Arsene Wenger was the manager who brought Ozil to Arsenal.

The playmaker was always one of the first names on the team sheet during the Frenchman’s reign in North London, and he often delivered.

However, in games against the big sides when Arsenal struggled and Ozil was singled out for being ‘lazy’, Wenger defended him.

He told The Sun in 2016: “I think he is a guy who works much harder than people think. His body language goes a bit against him sometimes.”

Wenger further added: “I don’t give him any leeway when the team is not in possession. He has to do a job like everybody else. Usually, he does it well.

“Of course, his main strengths are when we have the ball. He suffers more when we don’t have the ball. Against City, he suffered more because we had not had the ball enough. Unfortunately, if you want the ball, you have to win it back.”