Mikel Arteta claims he’s seen a big change in Folarin Balogun

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told Football.London that Folarin Balogun has worked to change his mind about a new contract.

Balogun starred last season with 10 goals and four assists in 15 Premier League 2 games, and fans have real hopes that he can become a first-team star.

However, Arsenal failed to agree a new contract with Balogun over the summer, and Goal reported that the Gunners had decided to sell him.

Sheffield United failed with a £3million bid according to the Daily Mail, with Arsenal valuing him at around £15million – despite him being in the final year of his deal.

Balogun featured from the bench against Dundalk last month, and could now feature against Molde on Thursday night having made the trip to Norway.

This has left Arsenal fans hoping for a new contract being in the works, and Arteta has now commented on the youngster’s future.

Arteta claims Balogun is a player he wants to keep, believing that he has so much talent and the club are working to convince him to stay.

Arteta was asked what has changed, and he claims that he has seen ‘certain things’ in Balogun that have now changed, and he now wants to keep him at the Emirates Stadium.

“Yes, he is a player that I want,” said Arteta. “He is a player that I want to stay at the club. I love working with young players. You can see the talent is there, the ambition is there and he can fit with our stricture and progress in the future. He’s part of the DNA and myself and the club are working to try to extend his contract. We’re trying to change the situation that we are in at the moment with him, and trying to convince him that this is the right place for him.”

“I have decided that I want to keep the player. The moment that I started to see more of the player and change certain things that I didn’t agree with, we decided to give it a go, tried to convince the player, try to show him what we want to do with him, why he fits in with what we are trying to do at the club. The young talent and the top talent that we produce at the academy is with the final aim to put them in the first team. When I signed for this club it was one of the things that excited me the most because I love to work with them and it’s part of our DNA and the history of the club. When we have them, let’s keep them and we really think they are players that can take us to the next level,” he added.