‘Better finisher than Henry’: Theo Walcott makes ‘controversial’ claim about one former Arsenal teammate

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Theo Walcott has admitted that he actually thought that Robin van Persie was a better finisher than Thierry Henry having played alongside both for Arsenal.

Walcott was speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, conceding that playing a lot more with the Dutchman has probably influenced his decision.

You cannot argue with anyone who believes that Thierry Henry is the greatest player the Premier League has ever seen. The Frenchman helped transform the division and actually went on to become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Of course, a few years later, Robin van Persie took on the mantle as the club’s talisman. He was sensational during his final two years with the club.

Obviously, van Persie is not held in the same esteem as Henry. There was a lot of disappointment over his departure for Manchester United back in 2012.

Walcott thinks Van Persie was a better finisher than Henry

Nevertheless, Walcott made a statement that Neville quickly labelled controversial. He was discussing the trademark finish he had during his career before his retirement this summer. And of course, that led to Henry coming up given that every Arsenal fan can picture a goal the Frenchman has scored time and time again.

However, that prompted Walcott to make the surprise statement about van Persie.

“To be fair, I always feel like van Persie was a better finisher than Henry,” he told The Overlap.

“Left-footers look better as well. It’s more the fact because I played a lot more with Robin. I did play with Thierry. But Robin made my job easy because I’d give it to him, he’d score and it’s an assist. Done.”

Clearly, Walcott admits that his decision is influenced by how much he played alongside van Persie. The pair played in 121 games together during their time at the Emirates. Only seven players played with Walcott on a greater number of occasions, according to Transfermarkt.

Meanwhile, him and Henry played together 21 times. And a number of those appearances came when Henry returned on loan when he was into the twilight of his career.

Walcott was also asked in the same interview with Neville who he would back to take a penalty to save his life. And he opted for van Persie, which further highlights just how highly the Englishman rated the 40-year-old during their time together.