Everton forward Theo Walcott has revealed he “fell out of love with football” during the end of his time at Arsenal.
The 29-year-old ended a near-12-year association with the Gunners when he swapped north London for Goodison Park earlier this year.
His final seasons were characterised by him becoming an impact substitute, with first-team opportunities few and far between, adopting this new role naturally had a psychological impact on the 47-time capped England international.
“I’m not going to lie, I fell out of love with football for a little bit. Because I had some good performances, but then just didn’t get the chance to play on,” he told Sky Sports.
“Scoring over 100 goals for Arsenal is a great achievement for me personally, and then just the last year-and-a-half was tough, I can’t lie. It was really tough, not being able to get into the team, being in and out.
“I just felt I wanted to get the excitement of football again. I didn’t feel like it was going to be at Arsenal then.
“Sam [Allardyce] at the time got in contact, and I felt “yeah, this is the right move for me”. I got the buzz and enjoyment back, and I couldn’t be in a happier place to be honest, I’m playing football with a smile on my face. I just love football again.”
Walcott in north London
Since joining from Southampton as a teenager in early 2006 the London-born forward would go on to amass no fewer than 399 appearances for Arsenal whilst managing 108 goals in the process.
Such was Walcott’s longevity he was by some distance the club’s longest serving player before exiting the Emirates Stadium. He’d leave having collected four major pieces of silverware which includes three FA Cups, winning the competition back-to-back in 2014 and 2015.
Now a Toffee he’s already bagged five goals across 20 outings with all but three of those strikes coming this season.
The post Theo Walcott admits he fell out of love with football at Arsenal appeared first on Squawka News.
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