Soccer: Walcott all ready to go

He sports tattoos by David Beckham's body artist, is creating paintings for an exhibition and is even considering a mohawk haircut.

The Theo Walcott who has just moved out of his parents' house is not the same wide-eyed teenager who joined Arsenal from Southampton in January 2006 and was then, to general astonishment, England's World Cup squad five months later.

Not that Walcott, 20, returning from injury and expected to play overnight against Fulham, has become a brash, outspoken young man after three-and-a-half years under Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Walcott is trying to grow a Mohawk while the newest tattoo is of dragons and knights and remains under wraps, and the artwork is for a charity founded by former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson.

Action for Walcott, even if just from the bench, will be his first appearance after an off-season marked by controversy, when he was included in the England squad in the under-21 European Championship, much to Wenger's displeasure, after playing for the senior England team in two World Cup qualifiers.

He then picked up a back injury in pre-season that seemed to reinforce Wenger's view that Walcott had been overplayed.

Walcott said: "I'm definitely ready to go now. It's been a long time, especially after the under-21s, and I came back when the others had started pre-season training, so that set me back."

Then came his decision to move with girlfriend Melanie, which led to him going through what most people feel when they leave the nest.

He says: "The first couple of weeks is quite difficult living away from home. I found myself locking up my house and just going back to my parents' house, to be honest. But my place feels like home now so it's all good. You want to be your own person, as well as being close to your family."

In his absence, England have qualified for the World Cup, a year after Walcott had apparently made his place in Fabio Capello's side permanent with a hat-trick in the 4-1 win in Zagreb.

However, Walcott will now have to fight the likes of Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips to play his first game at a World Cup.

He is well aware of the competition for places. He says: "It feels like I've been round for a very long time but I'm still only 20. There's always going to be pressure but I think I've dealt with it fairly well. It's a big year for me, so I just want to get back on the pitch and forget about the injuries."

His team-mates at Arsenal will echo that.

- INDEPENDENT