Theo Walcott has been ruled out of the World Cup Finals this summer, after suffering a serious knee injury whilst on Arsenal duty on Saturday.
The 24-year-old forward twisted his knee when making a tackle in the closing stages of the Gunners’ 2-0 FA Cup third round win over Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium, yet he was only initially expected to be out for around four weeks. However, it has now been revealed that the injury is far worse than anyone anticipated.
Walcott has suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage, and he will undergo surgery in London which will rule him out of action for six months. This means he will play no further part in Arsenal’s bid to end their trophy drought, and it will likely heighten the pressure on Arsene Wenger to venture into the transfer market this month.
Arsenal confirmed on their website: “Theo will have surgery in the near future and is expected to be out for at least six months, therefore missing the remainder of the season and the World Cup in the summer. Everyone at Arsenal wishes Theo a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing him back on a football pitch as soon as possible.”
To miss the World Cup will be a bitter pill to swallow for Walcott. As a 17-year-old he was surprisingly named in Sven Goran Eriksson’s England squad for the 2006 Finals in Germany, but he didn’t feature for a single minute. Four years later he was left out of Fabio Capello’s 23-man pool, which was equally as shocking. This latest setback means his earliest opportunity to finally appear in a World Cup Finals will come in 2018, when he will be 29.
