Theo Walcott could take Robin van Persie’s place

Theo Walcott has responded to manager Arsene Wenger's angry outburst about the club versus country debate by firmly committing himself to Arsenal. The 20-year-old winger returned to club colours for a half-hour cameo from the bench against Standard Liege in the Champions League on Tuesday night after a succession of injuries had limited him to just 73 minutes of football this season.

Wenger had clarified his remarks to the youngster before the game, and he will be reassured by Walcott's emphatic statement of intent on the club's website. "I want to get back in the starting line-up for Arsenal and, hopefully, try and help us to go far in the Premier League," he said. "That is the best way. You want to play well for your country, and the [chance in] the summer will come if you have a great season."

Walcott continued: "The best way is just to take every game as it comes and not look too much into the future. You could have a great season, get injured at the end of it and miss out. So I am just going to concentrate on every single game until the end of the season and see where it takes me. But the knee feels fine. I haven't felt it at all. It's been so frustrating this season, but hopefully my injury problems are out of the way now and I can just concentrate on playing for Arsenal."

There is a growing feeling at the club that Walcott could be deployed in a central striking role, filling in for the injured Robin van Persie. It wouldn't be the first time that Wenger has retooled a winger - Thierry Henry played on the flanks before being converted to a central striker by the Frenchman - and it's a prospect the England man relishes.

"It's a shame about Robin because he's done such a tremendous job for us this year," said Walcott. "We've got great strikers coming in for him so I'm one of a bunch of strikers who could do that job but again you'll have to ask the boss that question. I'd love to play up front but in this club I'd play anywhere; it is such a great squad and we've got so many brilliant players."

Meanwhile, former Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka, now of Chelsea, has added some spice to Sunday's meeting between the two sides at the Emirates. Anelka claimed that winning the league with the Stamford Bridge outfit would eclipse the Premier League title he won under Arsene Wenger in 1998.

"When I won it with Arsenal I did appreciate it at the time. Sometimes you only have one chance in your life," the French international said. "'I had this chance before and now I have a second chance to win it again. I have had a lot of time to wait to win something again in England."