Theo Walcott says the current Arsenal squad is the best that he has been a part of during his 1o-year tenure at the club.
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The England international is one of the longest-serving players at the club after joining from Southampton in 2006 in a deal worth up to a reported £12.5 million fee [via BBC Sport].
In that time he has seen the likes of Thierry Henry, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie all depart the club in order to win trophies elsewhere while the Gunners themselves have struggled to compete for the league title.
However, the arrivals of Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil coincided with a first piece of silverware last season and the addition of Alexis Sanchez saw the North London outfit finish third this season.
Speaking ahead of the FA Cup final against Aston Villa on Saturday evening, Walcott has hailed the current crop at the Emirates Stadium and hopes they can mount a challenge for the title next season: “Overall finishing third is a step up from last year, but as I’ve said before we need to be really challenging for that Premier League,” the 26-year-old told TalkSPORT.
“Personally, I’ve been there ten years and this is the best squad I’ve actually been involved in,” Walcott added.
The winger will be hoping his hat-trick against West Bromwich Albion last week has done enough to earn him a place in the starting XI for the Wembley showpiece.
Danny Welbeck will miss the final due to an ongoing knee injury according to the Daily Mail.