Everton star admits Arsenal made him lose his love for football

Oli Fisher

Everton winger Theo Walcott has admitted that he lost his love for the game towards the end of his time with Arsenal.

The former England international decided to swap the Emirates Stadium for Goodison Park back in January in a £20million deal.

The move to Merseyside brought an end to a 12-year stint with Arsenal in which he made 397 appearances for the club, but he has now admitted that a lack of playing time towards the end of his spell frustrated him.

“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,” Walcott 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.”

 

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