When Theo Walcott brought to an end his 12-year stint with Arsenal to complete a move to Everton back in January, he declared he was heading north to help his new club “push to the next level”.

“I want to be part of something,” he said on penning a three-and-a-half year deal at Goodison Park. “I feel like this place will offer me that.”

Four months, 13 games and three goals into his Toffees career, the winger’s resolve to deliver on that vow has only strengthened.

A calf injury denied Walcott the chance to take on his former employers, Southampton, in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Goodison, but the 29-year-old is already focused on what lessons can be taken forward and heeded before it all kicks off again come mid-August.

For while this season of change has not always journeyed along the smoothest path for the Blues, Walcott is adamant of this: Everton are building something for the future.

There have been tangible on-pitch improvements since Walcott landed at USM Finch Farm.

His debut - a 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion - halted a run of four straight defeats. Since that evening, the Blues have lost on only a further four occasions and currently find themselves on a five-match unbeaten run heading into Sunday’s season finale at West Ham United.

Walcott has hit the ground running on Merseyside. His goals and assists have directly contributed to the Blues collecting 13 points alone since he joined. And the good news for Evertonians – the winger is confident there’s even more to come from him and his team.

“There has been the odd game where we haven’t performed to the level we know we can do but there are signs we are developing as a squad,” Walcott assesses. “The other players are getting used to how me and the other new players play as well, getting to know me better, and I feel I have settled in very quickly. It has only been a few months but I feel I have managed to do well in my short time here so far.

“I want to help the team to push on to the next level because that is the reason I joined the Club. The Club has a very good history, a good fan base and deserves something for the fans for how loyal they are to the Club.

“I know how much it means to them to get to something like an FA Cup final. I have been there a couple of times and have had a good run in the Premier League. It is important to get to the level where we want to be playing and be hard to beat.

“At Goodison Park we have done well on the whole and away we have been better but still not at the level we know we can be. That is something I know will change.

“Since the gaffer came in, out form has picked up and we’ve risen up the table so it shows we are doing something right. We are starting to know each other a lot better and know how we want to play.

“We are all together and I know where this Club needs to be because that’s why I joined it. We need to be competitive, which we definitely are.

“But there is a lot more to come from the team and I am already looking forward to next season.”



Walcott netted twice on his second Everton appearance to inspire a 2-1 win over Leicester City on a night that also saw Seamus Coleman return to the fold after 10 months out injured and offered up an encouraging glimpse of what appears a promising right-sided partnership between the pair.

In the forward’s last Goodison outing, it was Walcott who finally found a way to rupture Newcastle United’s obstinate resilience and net the only goal of the game six minutes into the second half.

However, Walcott believes his own destiny matches that of the team - that the only way is up.

“I definitely would say so. With my family still being down south, I have had to juggle that with being up here. I’m settled in here but they are coming up in July and that will help me even more, because it’s the one piece in the jigsaw that hasn’t been fitted yet.

“So there’s that, I will have a full pre-season with the team, there may be other signings coming in as well, so there is definitely more to come.

“Teams always improve over pre-season and I do feel we are going in the right direction.”