Arsene Wenger says that winger Theo Walcott needs at least two months before he can be at his lethal best.
The England international recently returned from yet another long-term injury, which has kept him out for almost a year. Walcott has not started a match since January last year when he featured against Swansea. He suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the FA Cup match against Tottenham. It was widely expected that he would return just in time for the start of this campaign, but his recovery has taken longer than expected.
Walcott was forced to miss yet another major international tournament for England as a result of this injury. Wenger recently provided positive news concerning the 25-year-old, who returned on the pitch in the 3-0 win over Burnley. Even though he has been included for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifying matches, the Frenchman is not very positive about the impact Walcott will have over the next few weeks. He says that the 25-year-old is far from 100% fitness and this will have a direct impact on his game, which relies heavily on the pace. The return of Walcott is crucial given that Arsenal are going through several injury problems in the midfield with the likes of Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil being ruled out for considerable amount of time.
"Once you're back in full training, you count two months.Of course, people think you're back and you play but it's not like that. Ten months (out) is a long time.He will go with England and get what he needs to. He will get competitive training every day and get back into games.Roy Hodgson is free to do what he wants. (Walcott) has been chosen by England and he needs competition,” said Wenger. Walcott went on to make another substitute appearance against Swansea.
