Summary Everton once signed an England international for £20m in a bargain deal. Sadly, the player failed to live up to expectations at Goodison Park, eventually leaving for nothing. His career before Everton was truly captivating and deserves praise.
When Arsenal signed an electric teenage winger in 2006, the paper mill was working overtime. He was just 16, but Arsene Wenger had seen enough of this player at Southampton to warrant spending a record sum on a teenager: with a £5m down payment that looked to rise to £12m. That player was, of course, Theo Walcott.
After subsequently receiving his first England call-up under Sven Goran Eriksson, and even going to the 2006 World Cup – Walcott embarked on a fruitful 12-year stay at the Emirates. Despite a number of injuries, the rapid wide man was synonymous with so many great moments in the red half of north London before things slowly ran their course.
The player admitted in 2018 that "it was time to move on" and looked to pastures new.
How much did Everton spend on Theo Walcott?
Everton proved to be the destination for a 28-year-old Walcott in the January transfer window. Sam Allardyce was a big fan and had clearly sold the club to Walcott brilliantly – taking advantage of the player's desire for a new challenge.
Wenger on the other hand, had to reluctantly let his loyal man leave – as he simply couldn't guarantee him game time. It was a World Cup year when a place in the England World Cup squad might've been at stake, after all.
Walcott joined the Toffees for £20m in a three-and-a-half-year deal that was widely believed to rejuvenate his slightly stagnated career. He said of the move:
"It was sad but it's exciting at the same time and I want to reignite my career and push Everton to win things as they have done before. The manager is very hungry and it's just what I need. I've had a couple of chats with him and straightaway I felt that hunger and that desire that he wanted from me."
Following a honeymoon period where Walcott got a debut assist for Oumar Niasse, and then bagged a brace in the following game against Leicester, things sadly started to take a turn.
Allardyce departed Goodison Park after his 18-month contract ended, and an unfortunate string of injuries sidelined Walcott. Both of these aspects took a big hit on his development at the club.
How much was Theo Walcott worth at the end?
While at Everton, Walcott registered 85 appearances in all competitions and scored just 11 goals. These weren't exactly numbers that inspired this career rebuild or international involvement that he had hoped for. As said though, his injuries were a big dampener on his Merseyside spell.
Between 2018 and 2021, he missed 11 matches due to injuries – which by itself doesn't sound too bad. Yet, the Premier League is the highest level in the world. Losing out on a run of games, especially when fighting for a starting place for club and country, can be detrimental.
In even worse terms, Walcott's injuries in blue led to him missing 112 days of action, a figure that is slightly more worrisome. Where he could've partaken in training, he was absent. This led to reduced game time and eventually a loan to Southampton in 2020.
After this initial loan with his boyhood club, Walcott departed Everton for St. Mary's for free. Ultimately, when he retired in 2023 he left behind a great career but his spell in Merseyside was little to write home about. Perhaps it could be argued that it was a mistake to even bring him in at the time. After all, a player of his age was never going to have great resale value.
Indeed, in terms of his transfer value – it had stooped from that £20m Everton sum, down to a meagre £1m as the 34-year-old retired after leaving a relegated Southampton.