Considered to be one of England’s finest talents, Theodore James Walcott is still a work-in-progress when it comes to attaining regular England and Arsenal place. Highly regarded by the English media and his club boss Arsene Wenger, Theo Walcott is working hard to do justice to his reputation. The 20-year old, apart from being a senior England player, has been a regular at the U-21 level and this is all part of his endeavour to become one of England’s finest future stars.

The former Southampton star was heralded as a new star waiting in the wings to play for the Three Lions but not before big Premier League clubs like Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea came knocking at the doors of St. Mary’s. The young Walcott, after having scored five goals in twenty three appearances for the Saints, moved to the Emirates stadium at the start of the 2006/2007 season as Arsene Wenger came calling at his doorstep. In 2006, Theo’s immense talents saw him get a shock call to the England World Cup squad by the then manager Sven Goran Ericsson. Although the decision turned out to be a controversial one as the youngster never played a minute of England’s campaign but it gave him a taste of international football and leading up to Germany 2006, Walcott became the country’s youngest ever full international by appearing against Hungary at Old Trafford in a World Cup warm up match.

Now a regular at Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal and Fabio Capello’s England set up, Theo Walcott’s next aim in life would be to win silverwares for the Gunners and getting involved in a successful England team set for South Africa 2010. He is still an U-21 England international working under the guidance of Stuart Pearce as Fabio Capello wants him get seasoned to the international game at the junior level before making him a regular at the senior England squad. Walcott’s first and only goals in his England career came against Croatia in a World Cup qualifier on September 10, 2008 when the Arsenal striker scored a hat-trick to give England a memorable 4-1 win at Zagreb. By scoring all three goals, the player became the youngest in history to score a hat-trick for England.

Since scoring that wonderful hat-trick where the Arsenal forward terrorized the Croatian defence, Walcott’s form for both England and Arsenal since then has dropped and his shoulder injury that kept him out for nearly four months. Fabio Capello, given his ruthless decision making, has not made Theo a regular as the Italian is merciless about dipping forms and standards.

Yet the forward’s inclination to play for the England U-21s at this year’s European Championships was a true indication that Theo Walcott is ready to sacrifice his club priorities to resurrect his England career. This decision of his received widespread adulation from the English media as many thought Walcott is one of the few players who, in order to be a future England star, disobeyed his club manager to take a cut of his end season holiday to represent England in the UEFA U-21 EURO Championships in Sweden risking injuries knowing that any untoward event would seriously jeopardize his start of the season. This sort of qualities has already impressed Fabio Capello along with Stuart Pearce.

The position at which Theo Walcott plays requires a lot of big match practice and his role as a wide player is very much important to the England set up. Yet the Arsenal has to be a step ahead of the opposition as the winger will receive lot of the ball but at the same time is expected to do more with it and with Shaun Wright Phillips standing on his shoulder to take his place, there is immense pressure to perform both at the club and country levels.

As Englands’ Head Coach put its in his own words, supporting Theo Walcott, “Theo will be very important because we have to attack. Wide areas are very important because they are places where one man can go directly against another. I have spoken with Theo. He has been training well and needs to play.”

Once considered to be a long term replacement of Michael Owen, Theo Walcott needs to go a long way in achieving that tag but he is on the right track provided he keeps himself away from that painful shoulder injury that had plagued his last season. Yet many see him moving into a more central position both as an England and Arsenal player as the future shapes up. As an Arsenal player, Theo Walcott has inherited Thierry Henry’s no.14 shirt and as admitted by the player himself it’s a big number to wear on your back given the former Arsenal legend’s exploits in North London.

Born to a Jamaican father and an English mother, Theo sees himself as an ardent Liverpool fan given his father’s allegiance to the Merseyside club and the Anfield club once followed Walcott’s progress at Southampton but Arsene Wenger’s insistence of a bright future for the young player at the Emirates prompted Walcott to move to the capital and he could reap rewards of this staying at Arsenal as Arsene Wenger and Fabio Capello both agree on Theo’s style of play and the season leading to next year’s finals would be an acid test for the player both at club and international levels.

Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce thinks his fight with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger over the selection of Theo Walcott could help England win the World Cup. The former ManchesterCity boss insisted on taking the Gunners star to the European Championship finals after Wenger complained bitterly about his inclusion.Walcott helped England's youngsters reach the final against Germany - and Pearce reckons the experience gained in Sweden by the 20-year-old will help him take the world by storm next summer.

"There was some contention over Theo's inclusion but I think the experience will help him in South Africa without a doubt," said Pearce. "Hopefully he can now walk out in South Africa in a year's time with this experience. He'll know what it's like to take a penalty in a penalty shoot-out, he knows what it's like to play in sudden-death matches and in a major final. Theo knows what it’s like to be involved in tournament football now. He has been to the World Cup with the seniors but he never actually played. It’s important that he didn’t get caught in noman’s land in international football where he didn’t get any experience.”

Rightly said by a man who has seen Walcott from close quarters and the judgement about the future England star is a correct one without a doubt.