With the news that Theo Walcott will join Saints on a season long loan from Everton the question is whether this is a good or bad move for Southampton Football Club, here we look at the details.

The prelude to the official announcement that Theo Walcott was returning to the club was the announcement that both Sofiane Boufal and Guido Carrillo were now off the wage bill and would leave on free transfers whilst Wesley Hoedt would leave on loan again.

This was important in that this would trim somewhere in the region of £110,000 a week from the wage bill in the case of Boufal and Carrillo, saving somewhere in the region of £5 million over the rest of the season with all things considered, add another £2.5 million for Hoedt and that is taking a big chunk off the wage bill.

So why would Saints want to bring in Theo Walcott a man who left the club nearly 15 years ago ? To be blunt my first thought is why are we wasting our money on doing this, but on reflection I changed my mind.

The truth is that as a loan signing he is a calculated gamble, assuming that we are paying around half of his £100 k a week wages then over the next 8 months he will only cost us around £4 million and if he does not succeed then we are not saddled with him on high wages on a long contract.

This is the risk that Brighton have taken in signing Adam Lallana on a 3 year deal.

So from this perspective it seems a very good deal for Saints, it is a low outlay, no long term commitment and to be blunt it would not take much contribution from the player to repay the fee.

If for instance he scored 5 goals and those goals added 3 points that pushed us up 2 or 3 places, then he would have repaid the outlay, that is not a big ask, but Saints will be hoping that a player of his calibre will contribute more.

Some will point to his time at Everton and say he is finished,but perhaps he has a final flourish in him and £4 million isn't a lot to pay to find out.

Walcott did not leave with a bad taste in the mouth back in January 2006, he could simply have refused to sign a professional contract at St Mary's and joined Arsenal, meaning that Saints would have got a development fee at a tribunal.

But that would have been a fraction of what they eventually did receive.

This was down to Wacott and his family wanting to do the right thing by Saints and Arsenal played there part by agreeing to do this when they could have simply refused and paid a pittance.

So welcome back Theo Walcott, perhaps you can end your career where it started on a high note.

All in all a good days work for Saints, £150,000 a week off the wage bill for three players who have contributed little over the past 2 years and only £50,000 added, from this perspective little risk for Saints and the gamble might just pay off.

Photo: Action Images

Saintsforeverj added 22:01 - Oct 5 Now he is here, let's support him and the team - especially after 2 good results. He has scored over 100 PL goals. He is a Saints player, give him a a chance.
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WestSussexSaint added 22:01 - Oct 5 Agree with the points made above but I would add that as we have such a young squad it does hurt to have a senior pro in the ranks who can educate some of the youngsters even if he is not playing regularly. I think he can work well as an impact sub and he can help chip in with a few goals so we are not so reliant on Danny Ings. Welcome back Theo!
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WestSussexSaint added 22:02 - Oct 5 *doesn’t hurt not does!
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HythePeer added 22:15 - Oct 5 "Theo Walcott Rejoins Saints Is This A Good Or Bad Move?" For him or for Saints? But now he is here I agree with Saintsforeverj .
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Ali_Diarea added 22:15 - Oct 5 Personally I would have preferred Barkley or Loftus-Cheek. Whether this transfer window has been a success or not rests on how much of an impact Diallo and Salisu have. On paper we have strengthened in the right areas, but there are lots of unknowns that will determine how the season pans out. Walcott is a solid addition, if unspectacular. Certainly won’t be a first team regular, which in itself is slightly disappointing. Overall I think this window simply confirms that we are a ‘well run club’

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ElijahK added 22:16 - Oct 5 NO
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AmericanSaint added 22:17 - Oct 5 Good and air points Nick. I think it is worth the gamble and as he can play midfield or forward, he can add some depth. "WestSussex" is right as his age and experience can be a valued asset to this young team.
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erick added 22:19 - Oct 5 75 premier league goals in 13 years average of 6 goals The last 3 years 10 goals average of 3 goals I criticize Redmond alot because of his lack of efficiency, now it will make Redmond look like a world class player. This is a bad move, Stephens bednarek scored the same number of goals as him in the epl last season. He is not an improvement on the team. We could have upgraded Sims to first team at a more cheaper cost

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erick added 22:27 - Oct 5 People saying he is adding experience. We had 5 players over age of 30 in our 18 man squad while below 25 years we had 6 players. Shows our squad is well balanced
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WestSussexSaint added 22:36 - Oct 5 I wonder if Bale fancies coming back as well once he is done at Spurs......
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IanRC added 22:38 - Oct 5 Not convinced this is a good deal but I guess we will have to see how it plays out. Agree it is a real shame Josh Sims has not been given a chance under RH.
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Block8 added 22:41 - Oct 5 Good signing, impact sub & can play through the middle up front too. Should perhaps get Obafemi out on loan to get game time and see if he can progress?
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Flamingbankers added 23:44 - Oct 5 I thought Theo looked a considerable threat when he played for Everton and was probably unlucky not to get more game time. Really hasn't been consistent enough as a premier league player hence all the time on the bench ( plus being a bit injury prone). However, I think he'll be happy at St Mary's and is certainly still dangerous enough to contribute more than 6 goals although he hasn't done this since 2016/17! Fingers crossed for Theo and Saints. Redmond and Djenepo need a kick up the backside.

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Saidou added 23:53 - Oct 5 Rightly said Nick, Its a good calculated gamble for Saints. Am sure Theo have looked at how well Danny is doing here and said am sure they will fix my injury issues and get me back to my best soon. You have helped teams hurt us a lot aince you left, its time to bring us joy again. Welcome back Theo🙏
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ExiledSupporter added 10:59 - Oct 6 Here's a suggestion worth giving some serious consideration to, though it doesn't meet Nick's established demand, quite rightly, for a dominant experienced centreback. Why not get Jack Wilshire in on a short term deal (he's a free agent at present and has received a six figure pay off from W Ham) Pay him a relatively low base salary and a bonus supplement if he remains fit enough to qualify for the bench and a further supplement if he actually holds a first team place. The guys had a rough time with injuries, but if he can prove his fitness he could be just the guy to give our attacking midfield the vision and width to create many chances and supply a few goals himself. I think he's c28yrs old, so by no means in the sunset years Okay its a calculated gamble, but surely a worthwhile one that might pay off big time...he's certainly got talents that we sometimes obviously lack.

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onedannywallace added 18:39 - Oct 6 This is definitely a good move. Theo is one of ours, he did well for us throughout the youth and first team and the club benefitted from what was a good transfer fee when we desperately needed it. He also helped us to win the FA Youth Cup which was important in continuing to be attractive club for the most talented youngsters. I think he is an ideal choice to help our youngsters and I'm sure he will make a valuable contribution on the pitch. He might even do more than that and recapture the form which could make the difference to get us into Europe. We should all get behind Theo!

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AmericanSaint added 20:27 - Oct 6 "ExiledSupporter" - I was just think that exact same thing today after hearing JW is a freebie. A one year contract loaded with incentives might be worth it and we gould get some competition for the midfield.
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SaintBrock added 19:07 - Oct 8 It may be a very shrewd buy. Walcott and Ings could be a very potent force strike force. Just need to tidy up his game, get his ridiculous hair cut and shave off the fungus and we'll have a top player
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