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Theo Walcott announces retirement from football aged 34
heo Walcott has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 34.
The ex-Arsenal, Everton and Southampton winger told Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast the decision is “scary” but he “wants to try new things”.
Walcott hangs up his boots following a 23-year career in which he made 397 Premier League appearances.“I’m officially going to be hanging up my boots. It’s very scary, I can’t lie,” said Walcott.
“It’s scary because football’s all I’ve known from the age of 16 or even younger. I want to try new things I never experienced as a kid – I missed out on a lot.
“I just feel like I want to experience life – things [usually] revolve around football for me.”In his 13-year spell with the Gunners, Walcott won three FA Cups as well as two Community Shields.
He shot to fame in 2006 as a 17-year-old when he was surprisingly selected in Sven Goran Eriksson’s England World Cup squad.Walcott appeared 47 times for England, scoring eight times in a decade-long international career.
Walcott, who was a free agent but made 20 Premier League appearances and scored three goals for Southampton last season as the club suffered relegation, says he received offers from various clubs to keep playing but his “heart isn’t committed” to it.“I’ve had offers abroad and from some very good Championship teams.
There’s been some Saudi offers but it’s not where I see myself playing, to be honest,” said Walcott.“Nothing against the money or the league but if my heart isn’t into playing football it’s not fair on the clubs, not fair on me.”Walcott played for Newbury and Swindon Town as a youngster before being signed by Southampton in 2000.
He made his debut for the Saints in 2005 as a 16-year-old and soon became the club’s youngest ever goal scorer when he found the net against Leeds United.
Walcott made 21 appearances and scored four goals for Saints before joining Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in 2006.He played 397 games for the Gunners, scoring 108 goals, before departing for Everton in a £20 million deal in 2019.
Walcott played 85 games for the Toffees, scoring 11 times, before re-joining Southampton two years later.
Source: BBC.com
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
