Walcott spoilt for choice as Saints do their sums (original) (raw)

Theo Walcott's representatives are due to meet leading Southampton officials this week to decide the 16-year-old striker's future, with Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal emerging as the front runners to capture the English game's most exciting prospect. Chelsea are also keen on Walcott but, though the Premiership champions have the greatest financial resources, there are concerns that his development might be affected by the fierce competition for places under Jose Mourinho.

Walcott, who idolises Thierry Henry but is a Liverpool fan, previously rejected Chelsea as an 11-year-old in preference for Southampton and a bid of £2m for him from Chelsea when he was 15 was also reportedly turned down. The indications from Southampton, though, are that they are willing to listen to offers for their main asset as they make changes to the squad.

The club have accepted a bid of about £1m for their goalkeeper Antti Niemi from Fulham and the head coach George Burley is refusing to rule out selling Walcott, a player he described on Saturday as "a genius" and "incredible". "You never can tell and I'm not putting any guarantees," said Burley. "At the moment Theo is progressing and playing football and that's very important for him."

Southampton's chairman Rupert Lowe is to discuss the situation with Colin Gordon and Warwick Horton of Walcott's agency Key Sports Management in the coming days. Lowe said in his programme notes for Saturday's FA Cup tie with MK Dons that "money is tight following relegation" and the timing of that remark may prove significant.

Whereas Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal are likely to offer about £5m up front, rising to £10m, Chelsea are reportedly prepared to pay as much as £8.5m rising to £15m for a player seen as one of the most talented teenagers in Europe.

Yet Southampton may be wary of forcing Walcott in any particular direction because there is the threat that he could walk away from the club and effectively become a free agent, despite having a pre-contract agreement to sign professionally when he turns 17 in March. If that happened a compensation fee could be decided by a tribunal and Southampton would risk receiving considerably less.

It is understood that Walcott's family and advisers are keen to avoid this scenario and, if the club do agree to sell during the current window, they want Southampton to profit from nurturing him over the past five years. They do not, however, want Walcott automatically to play for the club that offers most money.

At present Walcott, who left school only last June, is still a first-year scholar with Southampton. He earns the standard wage of £90 a week and lives with his academy team-mates at a shared apartment in the city. He does, however, already have a boot deal with Nike and is poised for an incredible salary increase.

Liverpool would have a romantic pull, and the reputation of Arsène Wenger at Arsenal for developing talent is well documented. Tottenham are also in contention and they would be the most likely to provide the immediate opportunity of first-team experience. Another factor in Spurs' favour is that they could offer players to Southampton either on loan or long-term; the likes of Stephen Kelly or Grzegorz Rasiak, who was with Burley at Derby County, might be of interest. No final decision will be made until the situation with Southampton has been clarified.

Walcott had expected to spend at least this season at Saints but even he has been surprised by his progress. There has also been disappointment at the departure of his mentor, the former head coach Steve Wigley, during the summer, as well as recent upheavals behind the scenes.

At one stage it had appeared that Sir Clive Woodward and Simon Clifford might oversee the development of young players such as Walcott, but that changed with the departure of Clifford. Woodward has now been elevated to director of football and, although he has the Uefa B coaching badge, is not involved in a regular hands-on capacity with first-team training.

There is also a feeling that Walcott's progress may be accelerated by training regularly with leading Premiership players, although that must be weighed against the experience that he is currently getting in the Championship. He is Southampton's joint top scorer this season with five goals and is already the club's star performer. He became Southampton's youngest ever player when he appeared against Wolves this season at 16 years and 143 days. The England Under-17 international's searing pace is his most obvious quality and an effortless running style and ability to drift into wide areas have brought comparisons with Arsenal's Henry.

Southampton are also facing the prospect of losing the England Under-19 centre-back Matthew Mills, out of contract at the end of the season, who has attracted the interest of Manchester City, where Wigley looks after the reserves. Saints have also agreed to cancel the contract of the Scotland wing Neil McCann, who has struggled to make an impact since signing from Rangers in 2003.