Crystal Palace, Everton and Wolves are all interested in signing Folarin Balogun from Arsenal this summer.
What’s the story?
Well – according to 90min – the Eagles, the Toffees and the Old Gold are keen to lure Balogun away from the Emirates Stadium after being left impressed by his stunning efforts on loan at Reims.
Arsenal sent the England Under-21 international on loan to the French side back in August 2022, where he has since scored 18 goals in Ligue 1 to cement himself as one of Europe’s brightest talents.
Remarkably, Balogun could even beat Kylian Mbappe to the Ligue 1 Golden Boot – he sits one goal behind the PSG No.7’s tally of 19.
90min believe RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Union Berlin, Marseille, Nice, Lyon, Villarreal, Sevilla, Brentford and Leicester are also interested in signing the 21-year-old.
The story states that Balogun will hold talks with Arsenal when he returns from Reims in July, and the expectation is that he will ask to leave if the Gunners fail to offer him guarantees over first-team football.
Arsenal would prefer to keep the Hale End graduate, but with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah ahead of him in the pecking order, it may be tough to offer him the game time he wants.
90min add that Mikel Arteta and Edu are expected to demand £30m for Balogun.
Arsenal should try to loan Balogun to Crystal Palace, Everton or Wolves
In our view – instead of a permanent exit – Arsenal should try and convince Balogun to join one of the Premier League sides interested in him.
The Gunners clearly have a potential star of the future on their hands – they will kick themselves if they let him go for £30m and he rises to become worth far more.
Therefore, another loan move would give Arsenal a way of keeping Balogun happy as well as ensuring they do not lose him for good.
After all, Ligue 1 is a totally different animal to the Premier League anyway.
Alexandre Lacazette – who looked finished in England – also has 18 goals in Ligue 1, so it would be good for Balogun to test himself in England’s top-flight as a regular starter.
Be sure to keep an eye on the situation, as a number of sides across Europe fight to sign the Arsenal wonderkid.
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