Theo Walcott has opened up on his decision to turn down offers from Saudi Arabia before retiring from football at the age of 34.
The former Arsenal, Everton and Southampton winger, who won 47 England caps, has called time on his 18-year professional career having made 563 club appearances.
Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, an emotional Walcott opened about a number of subjects, including how he wasn't prepared for the paparazzi at such a young age and going to the World Cup at 17.
He also announced his retirement in a touching segment. “I’m officially going to be hanging up my boots," he said. "It’s very scary, I can’t lie. It’s scary because football’s all I’ve known, from the age of 16 or even younger.
You can watch that moment form The Overlap YouTube channel below:
As you can see in the footage above, Walcott opens up about his decision to hang up his boots, despite making 24 appearances for Southampton last season.
"I want to try new things – I never experienced certain things when I was a kid because I was thrust into some world without a choice," he said.
"It was just beyond talent and hunger, and I missed out on a lot. I’m not saying I’m going to be doing some mad stuff, but I feel like I want to experience life, you know? Everything has revolved around football for me, and now it [still] does, but it can also look somewhere else as well.”
The former Arsenal forward also confirmed offers from Saudi Arabia. A number of big names have joined the Saudi project this summer, including Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez.
But Walcott explained why he decided against the move.
“I had some offers abroad, and at some very good Championship teams. There’s been some Saudi offers, but that’s not where I want to see myself playing," he said.
"Nothing against the money or the league – I just feel like right now if my heart’s not into playing football, then it’s not fair on the clubs and not fair on me.
"I’m not going to earn myself a contract when I’m not going to be putting 100% - it just doesn’t sit pretty with me.
Walcott added: “It’s not that I’ve fallen out of love with the game – it’s just that my heart’s not going to be fully committed to playing week in week out, training and doing a pre-season again.
"That’s okay with me – there’s a lot of people that will feel like I’ve got a lot to do, and I was playing at the end of the season. I did, I was in the team, but I kind of like the fact that I’ve stopped at Southampton. I started it and stopped there, so it sits nice for me, and my last ever goal was against Arsenal.
"For me – no one else – but for me, it’s a nice moment, and I’m proud of that.”
After confirming he is in a "different part" of his life now, the former England international wants to try something new.
“I would like to [go into media], we’ll see," said Walcott. "I do enjoy that side of it, I enjoy analysing the games, analysing the teams, and as well, I have a different insight into the generations, I’ve played in your generation as well, which is slightly older than myself.”
Thank you for reaching out to us. We are happy to receive your opinion and request. If you need advert or sponsored post, We’re excited you’re considering advertising or sponsoring a post on our blog. Your support is what keeps us going. With the current trend, it’s very obvious content marketing is the way to go. Banner advertising and trying to get customers through Google Adwords may get you customers but it has been proven beyond doubt that Content Marketing has more lasting benefits.
We offer majorly two types of advertising:
1. Sponsored Posts: If you are really interested in publishing a sponsored post or a press release, video content, advertorial or any other kind of sponsored post, then you are at the right place.
WHAT KIND OF SPONSORED POSTS DO WE ACCEPT?
Generally, a sponsored post can be any of the following:
Press release
Advertorial
Video content
Article
Interview
This kind of post is usually written to promote you or your business. However, we do prefer posts that naturally flow with the site’s general content. This means we can also promote artists, songs, cosmetic products and things that you love of all products or services.
DURATION & BONUSES
Every sponsored article will remain live on the site as long as this website exists. The duration is indefinite! Again, we will share your post on our social media channels and our email subscribers too will get to read your article. You’re exposing your article to our: Twitter followers, Facebook fans and other social networks.
We will also try as much as possible to optimize your post for search engines as well.
Submission of Materials : Sponsored post should be well written in English language and all materials must be delivered via electronic medium. All sponsored posts must be delivered via electronic version, either on disk or e-mail on Microsoft Word unless otherwise noted.
PRICING
The price largely depends on if you’re writing the content or we’re to do that. But if your are writing the content, it is $60 per article.
2. Banner Advertising: We also offer banner advertising in various sizes and of course, our prices are flexible. you may choose to for the weekly rate or simply buy your desired number of impressions.
Technical Details And Pricing
Banner Size 300 X 250 pixels : Appears on the home page and below all pages on the site.
Banner Size 728 X 90 pixels: Appears on the top right Corner of the homepage and all pages on the site.
Large rectangle Banner Size (336x280) : Appears on the home page and below all pages on the site.
Small square (200x200) : Appears on the right side of the home page and all pages on the site.
Half page (300x600) : Appears on the right side of the home page and all pages on the site.
Portrait (300x1050) : Appears on the right side of the home page and all pages on the site.
Billboard (970x250) : Appears on the home page.
Submission of Materials : Banner ads can be in jpeg, jpg and gif format. All materials must be deliverd via electronic medium. All ads must be delivered via electronic version, either on disk or e-mail in the ordered pixel dimensions unless otherwise noted.
For advertising offers, send an email with your name,company, website, country and advert or sponsored post you want to appear on our website to advert @ alexa. ng
Normally, we should respond within 48 hours.