Wenger hoping returning star Walcott can help book top spot

Arsenal have opened talks with Theo Walcott, with a view to extending his stay at the Emirates beyond the end of next season.

Walcott, who ruptured a cruciate ligament in the FA Cup tie against Tottenham Hotspur in January, returned as a sub in Saturday’s 3-0 success over Burnley and is expected to start on the bench again tonight. His deal expires in the summer of 2016 and the club are keen to retain his services, aware negotiations proved somewhat tortuous last time around.

"We are starting to sit down with him," Arsene Wenger said of the player signed from Southampton in January 2006. "I think he has one and a half years to go in December. It is never an easy job with him. These should be his peak years because he is 25 now. He's into his best years, so hopefully we can profit from that."

Arsenal are starting talks slightly early, despite the winger’s injury problems, given that discussions over his present deal dragged on before he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract in January 2013 worth £100,000 (€128,000) a week, including image rights and a £3m loyalty bonus. His previous deal had been worth nearer £55,000 a week and had entered its final six months. The player and his agent had been seeking terms to reflect his value on the pitch as well as in marketing.

An offer approaching £80,000 a week had been rejected in August 2012, souring relations, and Wenger dropped him from the starting line-up for more than two months.

Chelsea and Man City considered moves for his services at the time. He returned to the team with a forward’s brief and his 14 goals in all competitions ultimately ensured his push for significantly improved terms was successful. Arsenal will hope the new negotiations are more straightforward.

Wenger would encourage England to select the winger for this month’s internationals against Slovenia and Scotland to ensure he continues to build up match sharpness after nine months out of the side.

“Theo is a unique player,” the Arsenal captain, Mikel Arteta, said. “He is a player who has been here for a long time, and someone who gives us something very different.”

For Arsenal the incentive against Anderlecht is clear enough. Victory may be enough to secure a place in the knockout phase for a 15th year in succession, a remarkable feat compared with the relative toils of teams like Manchester City, though Wenger is aware of a rather more nagging statistic.

His team currently trail Borussia Dortmund in Group D by three points and have finished second in their group in each of the past four seasons. Their reward has been elimination in the first knockout stage to heavyweights in Barcelona, Milan and, twice, Bayern Munich, all of which serves as a reminder that the Germans currently topping the section must be overhauled.

“I don’t know exactly how it is in the other groups at the moment, but it is always better to finish first,” said Wenger. “In some way, you feel guilty if you don’t finish first. People certainly think: ‘OK, if you are punished [with the draw] then you deserve it because they finished second’.”

If Dortmund are to be overcome then Anderlecht must first be dismissed, preferably in a more emphatic manner than that achieved in Brussels a fortnight ago, when Kieran Gibbs and Lukas Podolski eclipsed Andy Najar’s opener only in the contest’s frantic finale .

Arsenal will feel more at home back in London and will hope their own attacking talents come to the fore: Alexis Sánchez was outstanding against Burnley and will again operate behind Danny Welbeck, with Aaron Ramsey potentially drafted in to central midfield in the hope his attacking qualities add to the hosts’ threat. – Guardian Service