It looks like Mikel Arteta and Edu might have found a way to keep Folarin Balogun at Arsenal, according to a report from The Daily Mail.
The Mail claims that Arteta and Arsenal’s technical director have convinced the highly-rated young striker to snub interest from elsewhere and sign a new contract at the Emirates Stadium.
And if true, it has to be considered a masterstroke by the Spaniard and Edu.
That’s because for the past four or five months, it looked very probable that Arsenal were going to lose the 19-year-old on a Bosman this summer.
With his contract expiring in June, Arteta refusing to play him and even refusing to include him in senior training at one point, it seemed a certainty that Balogun was off.
But the fact that he now looks like staying is a massive u-turn and the Arsenal boss and Edu deserve massive credit, if and when he signs on the dotted line.
Remember, this is a player who Liverpool were reportedly looking at, a player with a hell of a lot of potential.
It would’ve been a travesty had Arsenal lost him for nothing and then watched on from afar as he fulfilled his potential elsewhere, but it looks to be a case of crisis averted and fans of the North London club should be praising Arteta and Edu.
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