Arsenal Transfer News: Gunners Set to Receive Bold £30M Bid from Barcelona for Theo Walcott

Barcelona, who previously targeted Tottenham's midfielder Gareth Bale, has now declared that the club will be making a £30 million move for Walcott; a figure that may be hard for Arsenal to resist. It is believed that Barca boss Pep Guardiola is looking for young players to add to the squad, to play alongside those advancing through the club's youth ranks.

The Englishman has less than 18 months to run on his current contract and that may prove an advantage to the Catalan club. In addition, Walcott, a former Southmapton player, may feel the urge to look for a future elsewhere if Arsenal yet again fail to win a trophy or even finish in the top four of the Premier League, come May.

The English club, however, will be understandably reluctant to let Walcott go. He is considered one of the key members in the current Gunners' squad and the club's manager, Arsene Wenger, has already lost two other key players, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, to Barcelona and Manchester City, respectively.

The Spanish champions' rumored bid of £30m could be seen as a trifle high for someone who has yet to demonstrate excellence on the same scale as Barcelona. However, give that the club's other new signing, Chilean Alexis Sanchez, for example, has also yet to truly prove his worth to the team and front-man David Villa is still to regain form and looks off the pace, a gamble on Walcott may be worth Barcelona's while.

Arsenal are currently 12 points adrift of league leaders Manchester City and are in seventh position in the table.