Theo Walcott's reward for his breathtaking hat-trick in Zagreb is set to be a bumper pay rise at Arsenal and a demotion to the bench when the Gunners travel to Blackburn Rovers this weekend.
Regaining custody of English football's latest Bright Young Thing yesterday, Arsene Wenger urged caution and requested that Walcott's exploits in midweek were regarded as an exception rather than an expectation. His own approach to dampening down the hysteria around the 19-year-old may be to omit him from Arsenal's starting line-up at Ewood Park if injury doubt Samir Nasri is passed fit.
Yet having taken back possession of Walcott on Thursday after the most remarkable week in the youngster's life, Arsenal have also signalled their determination to keep him in their grasp by indicating that they are ready to bring forward contract negotiations.
It's understood that Walcott, whose present deal expires in two years' time, currently earns approximately £20,000 a week - a fraction of what his England team-mates receive - and is likely to be offered at least three times that amount. As the lone Englishman in the Arsenal first team, Walcott is also arguably the club's most marketable commodity following his hat-trick in Zagreb and his new deal will have to reflect that notion if his head is not be turned by the riches available elsewhere.
Asked about the possibility of Manchester City launching a bid for Walcott, Wenger insisted that he would be able to resist any such offers.
"Maybe we don't buy a player for £50 million but we are always in a position to say, 'No, we don't sell.'"
In the short term, Wenger's concern is to protect Walcott both from the weight of expectation off the pitch and tough tackling on it.
"You never get easier treatment when you're dangerous," said the Arsenal manager. "Watch all our games now and see the first tackle on Theo. Like all players, he needs protection from bad tackles. Theo has been getting kicked since I first started playing him at the age of 16 and it was not easy for him.
"Don't set any limitations on any human being because once you have talent, the rest is down to how much you want it and to how intelligent you are," he continued. "I believe that he is hungry in a quiet way, he has a quiet determination and he is intelligent. You can be very optimistic.
"The rest is down to injury. We have seen that with Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen. They could not completely respond to the expectations because you have to be completely healthy as well."
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