Tottenham chances of raid on Arsenal for Folarin Balogun revealed as Monaco prepare new offer

Monaco have tried and failed to lure Arsenal into selling Folarin Balogun this summer and another bid is expected before the end of the summer transfer window, according to Charles Watts. 

Arsenal are looking for around £50m to sell their USA frontman, who scored 22 goals in 39 games in all competitions for Stade Reims last season.

Since then, Balogun has gone on to make his USMNT debut and claim his first international trophy at this summer’s Concacaf Nations League.

Inter Milan and Premier League side West Ham United have been credited with interest in Balogun, but so far the 22-year-old remains on the books at the Emirates Stadium.

“I don’t think he’ll be an Arsenal player for much longer,” says Watts. “I still think he’ll go before the end of the window.

“There are discussions going on; Monaco are interested in him and have had bids turned down and I don’t think they’ve gone away yet despite having those bids turned down. 

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they come back in with another bid. Arsenal have got good relationships in Monaco. The two clubs met in the Emirates Cup not so long ago and they were talking at that game.

“Monaco know what Arsenal want. That’s not really a secret. It just depends if they can hit that number or get very, very close to a structure that can get to that number. Whether anyone else comes in and really challenges in the next couple of weeks remains to be seen.

“You always looked at Inter and just felt they’re just not going to have the money to do it. And and so it’s no surprise really that they’ve moved on to other targets. It just felt like he was going to be a little bit out of their price range.”

Spurs move unlikely for Folarin Balogun

Balogun has two years left to run on his Arsenal contract, which expires in 2025 and if a move to Monaco doesn’t work out then Watts believes other Premier League suitors would be tempted to steal in for the striker. 

However, even with Harry Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich factored in, Watts thinks that Tottenham would at this stage be considered an unlikely destination for the Gunners’ academy graduate.

“I still think there’s a couple of Premier League clubs that could come into the reckoning. I still look at West Ham, I still look at Everton and wonder if they could potentially make a move,” says Watts.

“Tottenham? I’d be very very surprised but you never say never in football. They obviously need a striker; they’ve got a lot of money burning a hole in their pockets now from losing Harry Kane.

“Whether they would try and replace Kane with a completely untested striker in terms of the Premier League I’d be surprised. He’s very good, a talented player, a young player. So you’d never rule anything out. But I think there’s probably other clubs higher up on the list of potential suitors for Balogun than Tottenham.”

Arsenal looking for big money

While Arsenal have recently let talent go cheaply and have even ripped up the contracts of star players under Mikel Arteta, Watts expects them to hold firm for Balogun and secure as close to their asking price as possible.

“There’s still a lot of time to go in the window. They had a couple of really good bids from Monaco for him, but they’re holding firm at the moment. So I still think Arsenal are in a pretty strong position when it comes to Balogun. I still expect he will go and they’ll get good money for him.”

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