Arsenal have managed to get close to £3m knocked off what the eventual fee could have been for England and Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, with cash-strapped Southampton accepting a reduced fee up front for the 19 year old to help their financial struggle.
Arsenal had so far paid £7m of the maximum £12m fee, with £5m of that being paid straight up in January 2006 when the teenager was bought to the Emirates (well, Highbury at the time…). The Gunners will now only be asked to cough up £2.1m extra this year for the youngster, bringing the total transfer price up to £9.1m, with £2.9m being written off completely.
Although the eventual price for the teenager had shocked both Arsenal fans and the English media at the time, Arsenal are looking far happier with their aquisition, Theo now proving his potential far more convincingly as a super sub for the Gunners, even getting a recall to the full national squad against France last week before helping to change the game as a sub against Bolton on Saturday. He also contributed on the goalscoring front far more this season, grabbing a total of five goals - a brace in the Champions League, two goals against Birmingham and a goal against Spurs in the Carlling Cup.
