Theo Walcott ruled out for six months

Arsenal's official club twitter confirmed some disheartening news this afternoon about the extent of Theo Walcott's injury:

The Club regrettably announces Theo Walcott has been ruled out for at least six months with a knee injury. Story: http://t.co/Q0wPjxjCxj

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) January 6, 2014

The injury was previously thought to rule him out for only one month, but the scans have turned up a ruptured ACL. The news is surprising, given that athletes who rupture their anterior cruciate ligaments generally describe the pain as worse than anything they've experienced; Walcott either has an incredibly high pain tolerance, or the rupture isn't a fully torn ligament, or...I'm not a doctor.

The impact on Arsenal is going to be significant, sadly--nobody on the team offers what Walcott does, particularly against high lines, getting behind defenders and offering directness. Lukas Podolski sort of can, and one would like to think that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Serge Gnabry can alter their styles a bit to do similar, but at the moment, Walcott's the main threat. Without him, expect to see fewer opportunities for Arsenal to turn their possession into actual threat.

Arsenal are also quite likely now to make a bid for a forward in the transfer window, although there are not many players who can offer what Walcott does at anything like a reasonable price. The club needs bodies, now, though, with injuries to Walcott and Bendtner leaving them short at striker.

Also, of course, this is a major blow for Walcott himself--he will miss the World Cup now, more than likely, which means he will have yet to represent England in any World Cup. Also, he won't get to be part of Arsenal's title effort.

Sports are supposed to be fun, and now a guy who has fun playing football cannot, for a while.

This is awful.