Fabrizio Romano has revealed that at least one English club have made a bid to sign Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun, amid speculation about Liverpool being interested in bringing him to Anfield.
It looks like the Gunners will do well to keep the 19-year-old hitman in North London for the long term.
Balogun is out of contract with Arsenal this summer and Liverpool are among the clubs reportedly keen on snapping him up on a cut-price deal.
The Athletic reported last week that the player was very close to signing a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club.
But although the Italian journalist has claimed that Balogun isn’t close to agreeing anything with another team, he says that the reported Liverpool target does have interest from inside the Premier League, suggesting that as many as 15 sides are looking at the talented marksman.
He told AFTV on YouTube: “I’m told that he is not close to signing for another club. He has 15 bids on the table, from Italian clubs, English clubs, German clubs.
“They are talking with his agent. He has some big clubs ready to make him part of their future, but also mid-table clubs. Balogun wants to play. He’s still open to talk to Arsenal about a new contract if they play him. He’s not happy and talking with other clubs, just because he’s not playing.”
There’s good news and bad news for Arsenal in this.
The good news is that if Romano is right then the youngster could still wind up staying at the Emirates Stadium, but the downside is that it’ll hinge on his playing time and Mikel Arteta just can’t afford to give him regular football.
Alexandre Lacazette is playing out of his skin right now and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is, well, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and poor form or not, he’s a world-class goalscorer.
That being said, Liverpool also have a wealth of world-class attacking players, so Balogun isn’t going to play much under Jurgen Klopp either.
It’s an intriguing situation but the longer it goes without him signing a new deal, the more chance there is of him leaving.
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