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LIVERPOOL -- Theo Walcott says he consulted with Wayne Rooney prior to his move to Everton and insisted how the prospect of working with Sam Allardyce again was a key factor in his decision to leave Arsenal. Walcott ended his 12-year stay at Arsenal on Wednesday after completing a £20 million transfer to Goodison Park. Although Allardyce only managed an England team featuring Walcott on one occasion, the 28-year-old explained how he was sold on the Everton manager's vision for the future. Speaking to the media at a news conference on Friday morning, Walcott said: "After speaking to the gaffer and particularly Wayne as well, I felt like the club was on the up. "I felt that the manager seems to get the best out of the players, especially when first coming in. Just the plans for the future of the club and I felt like I wanted to be part of that. A fantastic history and I want to make that history present. I want this club to push on and try and reach these levels that I feel like it can with these players -- particularly the ones that are coming in. "You can get a sense that it's a club that financially can attract big players. For me, that was a main attraction. "I had a brief spell with the manager at England and I just felt like I wanted more of that. I want to be part of his plans. This felt right. I'm so pleased, really really pleased. "[Wayne] said all the golf courses are great! Obviously, I've played a lot of football with Wayne and I just wanted to get a structure how the club worked and what the players were like. When you're used to something for so long, it's a big decision to change things. I felt it was right for me to do that. "I just got a sense from Wayne that he was hungry and the club was eager to push on. That's why he wanted to join. I'm sure he would have had other decisions to make. He felt like this was the right place and I totally agree with him. It was a long process, but we're here in the end now." In their last two Premier League matches, Everton have not managed to score or register a single goal on target, with Allardyce believing Walcott and fellow new arrival Cenk Tosun can help remedy the team's inefficiencies in the final third. Walcott scored 19 goals in all competitions last season -- the second best tally of his career -- and has followed that up with four strikes, all in the Europa League and Carabao Cup, in 16 appearances this season. "Even in this year, with his short appearances, he's got goals and last year's appearances were exceptionally good from a player in a wide position," the Everton boss said. "He may occasionally have played up front. "For us, that's a very important ingredient where we are short in terms of creating and scoring goals at the moment. Hopefully he adds great firepower to our squad." Meanwhile, Walcott says he plans to go back to Arsenal in order to bid the club he joined at the age of 16 a proper farewell ahead of Everton's trip to the Emirates Stadium on Feb. 3. "When I found that I was coming here, I had to go there at night to pick up all my stuff in bin bags," Walcott said. "It was honestly so surreal. I was talking to the gaffer, I'm sure I will get time to go down. I've had so many messages to catch up with people. It's very overwhelming. "I will at some point go back and say my proper goodbyes because I feel like it would be the right way to do it. We do play them very soon as well, which I'm looking forward to." Follow Glenn Price on Twitter: @GlennPrice94.
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