Amid the wealth of speculation from the last few weeks claiming Theo Walcott could be ousted from the Emirates this summer, Arsene Wenger confirmed on Monday that contract negotiations with the England winger are now formally underway. Which, in my opinion, is fantastic news for Arsenal fans - because the north London club would be mad to sell him.

Yes, Walcott's regular presence for both club and country remains shrouded in doubt, yet to truly prove himself worthy of playing in an attacking midfield combination with the two largest signings in Gunners history, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. And yes, the roaring wide-man has never quite developed into the world star we all assumed when he was thrust into England's 2006 World Cup squad by Sven Goran-Eriksson at just 16 years of age. And yes, now a decade on, with just a year remaining on his current deal, this is probably as sensible a time as any for Walcott and Arsenal to part ways, if either party felt compelled to do so.

From a tactical perspective however, Walcott remains unquestionably one of the most useful players in the Premier League - especially for a club like Arsenal.

It may seem rather basic, brutish and the complete antithesis of the tiki-taka-infused philosophy currently defining the Gunners, but the fact of the matter is that the simple combination of the England international's blistering pace and a well-angled ball over the top is enough to obliterate any defence in world football.

That may seem a tad hyperbolic; after all, if it was that easy, Arsenal would be winning every week with Walcott claiming the match-ball, assuming Barcelona hadn't whisked him away many moons ago. Yet, the sheer threat of such a scenario forces the Gunners' opponents to play a certain way - deep, cautious and with pinned-down full-backs - in turn generating the space in midfield Arsenal's diminutive technicians have made careers from exploiting.

He's not the only player on the Emirates roster who can do this; Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are of a similar penetrative mould. But Walcott remains the most consistent in his habit of threatening space in behind and after ten years of doing so, the England winger's reputation now precedes him - as Italy's Giorgio Chiellini, widely viewed as one of the top centre-backs of his generation, confirmed earlier this week.

Likewise, for all the criticism the 26 year-old receives, his return for Arsenal over the past five seasons, since his coming of age campaign in 2010/11, isn't half bad; 38 goals and 29 assists in 116 appearances, only 87 of which have been starts. That makes Walcott in some way responsible for 0.8 goals per start and 0.6 goals per appearance. Few in Europe, let alone the Premier League,  have managed to parallel that level of output over such a long period.

And it may be a rather counter-intuitive - to some, negative - manner of looking at the situation, but gifting Walcott to another Premier League club, in my opinion, just doesn't bear thinking about for Arsenal. Sir Alex Ferguson was more than prepared to take him off Arsene Wenger's hands during his contract dispute in January 2012, and there will likely be similar interest this time around. According to the tabloids, Liverpool are particularly keen.

Walcott's an unusual player. In the estimations of some, unforgivably overhyped; in the minds of others, unfairly underrated. But for me, Alan Hansen's admission after retiring from Match of the Day last summer tells it's own story; "Throughout my time with this column and Match of the Day, there is probably only one thing that I regret saying. Four years ago, I said that Theo Walcott did not have a "football brain", without realising that my comments would be misinterpreted to such an extent.

"The meaning of my observation was not as brutal as it may have come across, but nonetheless, I was critical of Walcott’s ability and I am pleased to say that Theo has proved me wrong one million per cent. He is a proper player and I have to admit that my comments about him were the only time that I have ever been happy to be wrong. Theo is an intelligent boy, very bright, with genuine ability and he has given the best possible response to my remarks by pretty much showing two fingers to what I said."

If arguably the greatest Football pundit of all time - forever famed for claiming 'you can't win anything with kids' during the same season Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and David Beckham won their first Premier League title with Manchester United - views downplaying Walcott's abilities as his only regret, then perhaps it's time we all started holding the winger in somewhat higher esteem.

After all, isn't scoring goals, creating goals and striking fear into the hearts of the opposition defence what wingers are on the pitch to do? Sir Alex Ferguson, Alan Hansen, Giorgio Chiellini and Brendan Rodgers can't all be wrong, can they?