Theo Walcott has risked widespread ridicule by claiming that Arsenal are the best team in Europe this year.

The Gunners had an unspectacular Champions League campaign and were unable to make it past the last 16 after going down 3-1 at home to unfancied Monaco in February. But Walcott told the Arsenal website that the team were much improved and “not many people thought we’d be second and challenging for the Premier League” (albeit they currently lie third behind Manchester City).

“In this calendar year, we’ve been the best team in Europe. It’s the strongest the squad has been and everyone is staying fit as well. There aren’t many injuries in the squad, which is important. If we had an injury-free season, I think we could lift the title.”

Walcott himself has had an up-and-down year after failing to force his way back into the side following a lengthy knee-ligament injury. His £100,000 a week contract expires next year and he said recently there had been no talks about extending it.

In March he was warned by the England manager, Roy Hodgson, that at 26 he was approaching a defining moment in his career with players coming up behind him at club and country level.

“If you’re not careful, there’s always someone behind you waiting to take your place. It’s a dog-eat-dog world,” said Hodgson.

Perhaps, then, it was not an ideal time for Walcott to draw comparisons with Thierry Henry whose No14 shirt he inherited at Arsenal.

“You could look at the pace side of it and the way we both finish,” he said. “He had an unbelievable scoring record and to get anywhere near that would be a great achievement for myself.

“There are a lot of similarities in the way we attack defenders and the way we finish. I want to be my own player - I like to take bits from other players’ games. Thierry just made football look very easy at times.”

(Guardian service)