Theo Walcott is the key to driving Everton back up the Premier League table.

That is according to club legend Leon Osman.

The 28-year-old arrived at Goodison Park last month following a 12-year stint with Arsenal. And Osman believes that experience could prove pivotal for Sam Allardyce's side.

"Theo has had a great start to his Everton career and he brings an awful lot to the team," Osman told evertonfc.com.

"He provides a huge threat in behind the opposition and that suddenly gives them something different to think about. If he is going to be running behind they have to drop off, which gives Wayne Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies a bit more room to play in. Those pockets are difficult to get in but those three players are finding more space now.

"And Sigurdsson and Rooney have more to aim for with their passing, the opportunity to play a through ball in behind rather than everything having to be in to feet.

"Any signing gives the team a lift – but one of the calibre of Theo Walcott? It is an incredible coup for the Club.

"As a player in that squad – the likes of Rooney, Sigurdsson and Davies, in particular, the players who pick out passes – Theo gives you a real opportunity to thread through balls and the key passes which ultimately unlock defences."