Arsenal: Arsene Wenger admits date has been set for Theo Walcott contract talks

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that a date has been set to resume contract talks with striker Theo Walcott, who is out of contract at the end of next season.

"There might be a date. (But) I do not see the need to inform you about the hour and the day when we will be meeting his representative," Wenger said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

The Gunners boss had revealed earlier in the season that a contract offer had been made to the player and that there had not been any progress on that front, but the player refuted those statements and revealed that there was no offer from the club.

This had alerted Liverpool and Manchester United, who are keen on signing the Three Lions forward.

The England international forward is entering the final year of his contract and has made it clear that he will take stock of his future at the end of the current campaign after being frustrated at being a bit-part figure in the Arsenal team this season.

Walcott was sidelined for over a year with a knee injury he sustained in January 2014, and his return to first-team action has been slow with the manager making sure that he is fully fit before throwing him into the deep end.

But this has not gone down well with the player, as he believes he is not getting ample chances to prove his fitness, but the manager is still hopeful that the forward will spend his 'golden years' with the club.

Wenger is confident that Walcott has a special destiny in front of him and will not let him leave the club even if he fails to sign a new contract in the summer.

"He has a special destiny because it's unusual that a boy of 17 goes to the World Cup. When England went to Brazil (in 2014), he was not selected (because of injury) and he was not selected by Fabio Capello for South Africa 2010."

"It's special because when a boy goes at 17 years of age to a World Cup - you think he will make four of five [tournaments]. He's a special player who has overcome special tests on the mental front. He will have a special destiny as a player because nothing happens as planned with him, but he always responds in a very strong way," the French manager added.

Walcott is the senior most player at the club in terms of appearances made, and he played his 300<sup>th game for the Gunners when he came on as a substitute against Sunderland on 20 May.