Walcott signs on the dotted line and becomes Arsenal's best-paid player

Theo Walcott has finally signed a new contract at Arsenal, which has made him the club’s highest-paid player on £100,000 (€120,000) a week. The England forward has committed for three and a half years and he has received a £3 million (€3.6m) bonus for remaining loyal to the club.

The saga ended yesterday morning, bringing a tonic to player and club. Walcott, whose previous deal – worth £55,000 a week – was set to expire in the summer, had sought fresh terms to reflect his value on the pitch and in marketing terms.

He is hugely popular in east Asia, where Arsenal are seeking to make commercial inroads, and his new salary contains image rights clauses.

“I am very happy to have signed a new contract here at Arsenal,” Walcott told the club’s website. “Thanks to everyone for their continued support, especially the manager, everyone at the club and most importantly the fans.

“I have made it clear from the start that I wanted to stay at Arsenal so I am pleased we have agreed a deal that everyone is happy with. What’s important now is for the team to realise its potential and win trophies.”

The road to the Walcott agreement has been rocky, with the 23-year-old enduring frustration when he rejected the club’s offer of a little under £80,000 a week in late August and found himself out of Arsene Wenger’s starting line-up for more than two months.

Walcott would have signed for £90,000 a week in August but his return to the team and his impressive statistics have allowed him to successfully push for more money. He has scored 14 goals in all competitions, his highest haul in a season.

Walcott, who joined Arsenal from Southampton in January 2006, has also seemingly wrung footballing concessions out of Wenger.

He has never made any secret of his desire to play as the central striker and Wenger has granted him his wish in recent weeks, beginning at Reading in the 5-2 win on December 17th. Walcott hopes to lead the line at Chelsea tomorrow.

He follows a quintet of young British players – Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson – in signing a long-term contract extension at the club.