The Evening Standard report that Chelsea will make a £15million bid for Arsenal’s Theo Walcott in January.

The England winger would be available on a free next summer, but the Blues seem determined to make an early move to get their man, with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City also interested.

Arsene Wenger has said he would rather lose Walcott for free than sell him to a rival now, but a bid of £15million might be seen as too good for the club to turn down.

The article claims part of the reason Chelsea are keen to push the deal through now is that Daniel Sturridge will be leaving for Liverpool in the same transfer window. Since losing Didier Drogba in the summer, and with Fernando Torres off form, it is understandable that Chelsea are desperate to add some firepower upfront as quickly as possible.

To be honest, there have been so many Walcott rumours it’s hard to know which ones are based on anything real. The longer his contract remains unsigned the more we’ll hear about bids like this. Without any quotes from either side it’s unlikely to be as definite as articles like this make it sound.

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