Folarin Balogun close to signing contract extension with Arsenal
There is usually calm before a storm, but at Arsenal, things go about in a different manner.
Last night’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Czech side Slavia Prague was followed by some good news.
The DailyMail reported that Arsenal’s prodigal striker Folarin Balogun is on the verge of extending his contract beyond the summer.
This is a huge news for the club as the talented striker looked destined to leave the Emirates Stadium in a nominal fee.
The likes of Manchester City, Everton, Swansea City, Brentford and even Germany’s RB Leipzig were linked to the 19-year-old striker.
But now those links will vanish into thin air after the reports broke out that the American born centre forward has eventually decided to stay.
Mikel Arteta looks to have persuaded Balogun that he indeed has a future at the North London side. The Spaniard, speaking to the media last week said, “I think I am pretty positive about it and every time I spoke to him, he mentions the same thing, that he’s determined to stay here, that he wants to stay here.
“We have had some really positive conversations with his agent as well and Edu is in charge of that.
“He’s been spending a lot of time and energy to make that deal happen because it’s important for us to keep our talent in the house, and what we can guarantee is that we’re doing everything we can to keep him.”
The 19-year-old has been ruthless for the youth sides of the club. He has scored 21 goals and assisted six times for the Arsenal’s U23 side in 47 appearances. While his record at U18 level is even more impressive.
The young striker has 38 goals and eight assists in 41 appearances.
The contractual situation of the forward was bound to make the Arsenal faithful nervous. They have seen countless players such as Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Donyell Malen, Ismael Bennacer and most notably Serge Gnabry leave the club to make a name for themselves.
At least the fans can now take a sigh of relief that the history won’t be repeated with Balogun.
Indeed this is a very good news. If Auba and Laca can move on and we sign Augüero for free to help Balogun develop. Why not looking at Dany ings!
Would be smart to get Aguero if one or both of Auba and Laca would be moved on. Auba and Aguero can help Martinelli and Balogun become lethal predators
This everyday saying that a veteran or established pro would make a youngster great is completely rubbish. If the coach whose job is to make players better cannot, and the youngster himself doesn’t work hard enough, I don’t see how the veteran would help beyond just being an inspiration.
If it was just about a youngster having a great veteran around him, every big club would be churning out super youngsters everywhere.
Well if you feel having a mentor to provide guidance is rubbish….. I’m not even sure what response to give to you. Arteta played as a midfielder, and as such, Aguero and Aubameyang would know more about being a striker than him, don’t you think?, so who is more likely to pass relevant tips as regard hitting the back of the net?….
Senior players aren’t employed to “mentor” nor coach the younger ones. It is a myth that many believe that they “mentor” them. At best, being around great players can help your confidence. Senior players do not hang around after training (conducted by the team’s manager) to instruct youngsters on how to become better. As I earlier said, if just being around great veterans would turn youngsters into world beaters, the likes of Madrid and Barcelona shouldn’t be buying established players anymore. They have enough youngsters that should have been “mentored” by Ronaldo and Messi.
AGUERO? I hope your night was not too disturbed by that crazy fantasy dream you have clearly had!
It is good news… as long as the club haven’t offered yet another insane contract!!!
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How convenient that the leak happened the day after our disappointing EL game!
Bright news out of the gloom!
This has been happening for far too long. Glad you noticed it too. Anything to protect Arteta and the board. Said it in a previous article, just like the “BarçaGate Scandal”, there should be an investigation into “ArsenalGate”. Every year Arsenal gets worse and someone somewhere or a group of people somewhere are desperately trying to divert the blames and fans backlash from themselves, even if it means at the expense of players images. I say INVESTIGATE ARSENALGATE SCANDAL and shocking things might likely be uncovered.
we were promised big things going to this dump of a ground (excuse the pun) . Is it possible we can sue the owners and the board as a fan base . ITS FRAUD.