Arsenal
Premier League • England
Prolific Arsenal attacker set to refuse new contract and force move away from Emirates this summer
Arsenal forwards Bukayo Saka and Folarin Balogun
Folarin Balogun will refuse any new contract offers from Arsenal and has no intention of making another loan move this summer, according to reports.
The 21-year-old has been linked to several top European clubs recently after displaying his goal scoring abilities for Reims, trailing only Kylian Mbappe and Jonathan David in the Ligue 1 scoring charts.
With Mikel Arteta not thought to be considering including Balogun in his plans next season, everything is pointing towards a summer departure.
Indeed, as reported by TEAMtalk on Monday, the Gunners are leaning towards selling Balogun, despite him scoring 18 goals in 30 appearances while on loan at Reims.
However, they do want to include a buy-back clause in any potential sale, so they clearly recognise his sky-high potential.
But, with Milan, Juventus and Bayern Munich keeping a keen eye on the striker, everything suggests he will leave the Emirates at the end of the season.
Milan plot £26.5m bid for Balogun
Now, according to the Athletic, Balogun will not sign a contract extension with Arsenal under any circumstances this summer, with his current deal set to expire in June 2025.
As per their report, the striker is keen to wait and see whether the likes of Milan, Juve and Bayern table an offer, while Monaco, RB Leipzig and Marseille have also registered an interest in his signature.
Milan are by far the most interested, though, with the Italian giants allegedly preparing a bid of £26.5m for his services.
A departure does seem to make sense from Balogun’s point of view, as it seems very unlikely that he would be able to break into Arteta’s starting XI.
Indeed, with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah’s goals helping fire the Gunners towards their first Premier League title since 2004, it would be silly for the Spanish manager to change up a front line that’s already in such good form.
Any sale would also open up funds for Arteta to spend on his own transfer targets this summer, with a number of high-profile players being linked with a switch to the Emirates.
With the Gunners set to be competing in the Champions League next term, they will need more depth in every position.
This makes it slightly surprising that Arteta is unwilling to give Balogun a chance, though, especially after he described the attacker’s form as ‘unbelievable’ last month.
Nevertheless, Balogun has already proved he can score goals consistently in one of Europe’s top leagues, so perhaps he deserves a regular spot in another top team.