Walcott wishes Arsenal had signed £100m Chelsea star: ‘Sadly for me, he’s in the wrong shirt!’
Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott wishes one current Chelsea player had ended up signing for the Gunners instead of the Blues.
Chelsea had made a number of questionable signings in recent years with players like Mykhaylo Mudryk and Kalidou Koulibaly having a terrible time at Stamford Bridge.
But there are few players like Cole Palmer and Moises Caicedo who have excelled in their time under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake ownership.
And now ex-Arsenal star Walcott has admitted that he wishes Caicedo could have signed for the Gunners and not Chelsea when he completed a move for around £100m in 2023.
Walcott told the Premier League’s official YouTube channel: “For me, Claude Makelele is one of the best midfield players in that position that’s ever lived.
“A bit before [N’Golo] Kante. Kante took Makelele’s throne to some extent. But he [Moises Caicedo] is as close as you’re going to get to the modern era of that position. He can fill the right-back position as well.
“You talk about the price tag, but it doesn’t faze him. It can take a little time to adapt to a new club but he’s an absolute rock.
“Sadly for me, he’s in the wrong shirt! I’m a huge fan of his because he unlocks the door for people like Cole Palmer to do their thing.
“He’s an extra man in that midfield, maybe two or three, that’s how good he is.”
MORE ARSENAL COVERAGE ON F365
👉 Arsenal signing of elite rival star will see them ‘win league by 10 points’ next season
👉 Arsenal star responds to ‘best in the world’ claim ahead of Gunners vs Paris Saint-Germain clash
👉 Liverpool have five (and Arsenal none) in Premier League XI of the season
Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister recently named his former Brighton team-mate Caicedo as his “toughest opponent” in the Premier League.
Mac Allister said: “I’ve shared a dressing room with Moi, fantastic player, really good physically. The main thing I’m going to say here is physically the most hardest part against these players, I would put Caicedo first.
“He is very complete, on and off the ball he’s really, really good. Declan second, he’s a top player and Rodri third.
“This doesn’t mean that I don’t rate Rodri, it’s the complete opposite, I think he earned the Ballon d’Or for example.
“He’s a fantastic player but he’s not the hardest opponent because he’s never on the ball, he always plays one or two touches, so you cannot even get near him.
“If you ask me who is the better player, I would say Rodri but the toughest player to play against is Moi Caicedo.”
When asked if he expected his former team-mate to have an impact in the Premier League, Mac Allister replied: “Yeah, I was really surprised when he went on loan to Belgium.
“I was really surprised because I was watching him in training and I felt like he was ready to play, but at that time they thought it was a good idea to send him on loan, he wanted that because he wanted to play as well.
“But I always thought that he was going to be amazing.”
