Wenger - The day I knew I wanted Walcott

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One “special” performance in the FA Youth Cup Final was enough to convince Arsène Wenger that Theo Walcott was an Arsenal player in the making.

The 19-year-old’s England hat-trick may be the talk of the town atthe moment but his club manager recalled the match, over three yearsago, where he first saw Walcott play.

The then 16-year-old Walcott had already crossed swords with hisfuture employers en route to the Final when he bagged the only goal inSouthampton’s 1-0 Fifth Round victory over the Gunners. The Saints wereeventually denied by Ipswich in the Final but the buzz around Walcottwas growing and Wenger admitted that the Gunners weren’t the onlyinterested party.

“At the time, he had the choice. Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool were all interested,” said the Frenchman.

“I watched him in one special game against Ipswich in the FA YouthCup Final. We had sent scouts to watch him maybe 50 times but afterthat of course I have to be convinced as well.

“The first quality that stood out was the timing of his runs; whento go and when not to go. Sometimes you have players who are superquick but you don’t see it in their game because they don’t run at theright time, they don’t use their asset.”