Theo Walcott has finally got his wish to play up front and has delivered in style for Arsenal.

Although he still has areas of his game to iron out, four goals in four games is a fine return.

The recent introduction of the raw pace of Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Arsenal’s forward line has helped them outgun Reading and Newcastle when in previous games, attacking momentum had looked laboured.

The noises from Arsene Wenger and the Emirates suggest that the club’s hierarchy want to tie the England forward to a new contract.

But after the Newcastle match in which he scored a hat-trick, Walcott was coy about his future. You would think that he would be eager to put pen to paper now that he has gained his wish of playing at centre-forward.

But there is still the question of money when Walcott’s representatives sit down with Arsenal this month.

The club have offered him €90,000 per week, although rumours suggest that they would be willing to shell out up to €100,000. 

Wage

It is believed that Walcott is holding out for a salary in the region of €120,000 per week. Whether Arsenal would be willing to break their strict wage structure to accommodate that level of expense is another matter entirely.

However Chelsea and the Manchester clubs could certainly afford to. But they would not be able to offer him his coveted centre-forward role or even regular first-team action.

Man City will be in the market again as they look to close the gap on United. One area that the Sky Blues have struggled is out wide with much of their attacking play funnelled through the middle where David Silva and Samir Nasri prefer to operate.

They are also well-stocked up front even if Mario Balotelli were to leave in light of his training ground bust-up with Roberto Mancini. It is hard to believe that Walcott would get game time ahead of Carlos Tevez, Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero or Edin Dzeko.

The same issue arises at United where the Reds are overloaded up front with Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck. 

Dutchman's wingman

Rumours suggest that Alex Ferguson wants to bring Walcott to Old Trafford as a foil to Van Persie – a role the 23-year-old carried out to great effect when the duo were at Arsenal.

However that would involve Walcott playing out wide and he will not want to be typecast as the Dutchman’s wingman again.

Chelsea are light on strikers but the Blues have been heavily linked with Newcastle’s Demba Ba. Even so, it is unlikely that Walcott would be able to dislodge Fernando Torres from the starting 11, regardless of the Spaniard’s form – especially as interim manager Rafa Benitez was brought in to get the best out of the €60 million man.

Liverpool are the other English club that Walcott has been linked with. However the Reds are rebuilding from mid-table and with Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge signed up, it seems the ship to the club he supported as a boy has sailed.

Which leaves Arsenal. Arsene Wenger seems to have got Walcott’s development right thus far so the Southampton youth graduate might be best served staying put – even if that involves a cut of €20,000 on his weekly wage.