Folarin Balogun has dropped the biggest hint yet that he is leaving Arsenal after deleting all the images on his Instagram, according to Sun Sports.
The teenage striker has asked to be included in the first-team plans before he signs an extension to his current Arsenal deal.
With the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli ahead of him in the pecking order, Mikel Arteta cannot guarantee him that.
It is now believed that talks between the club and his representatives have broken down completely.
The striker has interest from teams in England and around Europe with Bayer Leverkusen the most interested, according to the same Sun report.
Rennes and Stuttgart are also looking to land him and Arteta has tried to show him that he is part of the club’s plans.
The Spanish manager gave him a run in the team before the conclusion of the Europa League group stage.
However, he hasn’t played for the club since last year and he seems to have concluded that first-team chances will take time to come at the Emirates.
Arsenal will now have to prepare to lose one of the most promising players that they have developed for nothing at the end of this season.
I say good luck buddy ,if he can’t wait for his chance then so be it . We have Martinelli who is the same age and is probably so far ahead
Of Balogun what does it even matter .
That’s the problem with youngsters these days that come through the English club ranks ,expecting clubs to throw endless money at them and stick them straight into the first team .
I will add that a lot of fans slag off Eddie but atleast he has done it the hard way and not expected it to be handed to him ,and wasn’t Eddie’s stats better In the under 23 a that Balagon
Under 23 stats mean absolutely nothing! Some are great at that age and some are late bloomers.
The only way to know is to give players game time at the higher level.
Well said Dan – I agree with all of the points made. Whilst he is understandingly keen to play, I get the impression on his agents request he demanded too much – in particular guaranteed playing time. He’s 19 and largely unproven. We cant accede to demands like that.
👍 👍 Bloody agents again have turned his head! Disappointed but agree re patience of Eddie Nketiah.
Even if he leaves at the end of his contract, isn’t Arsenal entitled to “development” fee from any buying club?
Knowing Arsenal we’ll probably leave that clause out to ensure we get zero cash at any time lol
Balo is one of the most talented natural striker Arsenal has. This is very sad. I would bet a dollar that this comes back to haunt us.
Well if he wants to follow that waste of a human being called football agent then its his fault
If he can’t wait, then bye
The grass is not greener outside
My only regret is that we’d be losing him for free when we’d have cashed in last summer and pocketed 10m once he started dallying on a new deal
Arsenal never learn!
👍 Must have misguidedly thought they could change his mind.
Nobody wants Eddie that’s the problem. Why has so much time and effort been exerted on his ( non) development.
Good bye Balogun. A lot seem to point at young players that got away to become good. Yes Gnabry and the likes, but we forgot some promising ones too who left and didn’t get anywhere. Akpom and the rest. All youngsters must wait their time. If Kane did, who is Balogun? Best of luck to him anywhere he goes.
@Herb. We never know what the future brings. We cant have a small club mentality when players (19 year olds!) will be holding us to ransom. Would be demand game time if we were playing for RM or Bayern? Or even Chelsea or Man City? We should have only players who want to stay playing for us. We can have the Ozil deceble all over again.
“We should have only players who want to stay playing for us”
Pretty sure that’s exactly what he wants, to be playing mate
Balogun is not guaranteed to be a half decent player, at the same time he could become an excellent player. The only method of discovering this is by playing the lad.
He won’t commit to the club and the club won’t commit to him either. It goes both ways.
Putting myself in his shoes (agent influence aside)
-he got a few chances in the 1st team and impressed and more importantly produced
-chances then were given back to Eddie for an unknown reason that has never really impressed
Why would you want to be stuck at a club until you are 23/24 years old with a manager that clearly favours your direct competition for a spot even though he produces little?
MA also has a poor recent history with the majority of the youngsters he manages getting little to no game time (barring ESR+Saka). He has also ousted many youngsters, whether right or wrong I cannot say but the fact remains is that this happened.
Looking at all of this objectively, would you honestly risk your prime development years at a place you may get little to no 1st team action?
No coach uses unproven players in his first eleven when he is chasing results.
Esr,Saka, Gabriel, KT and lately odegard are 5 young players in MA’s first eleven. If that’s not good number of giving youths a chance, I don’t what it is.
And by the way, he can’t get every decision right, not every coach does.
Gabriel, Odegaard and KT are young but are not considered youth, they were brought in directly to play in the 1st team. Please learn that their is a big difference, youth is guys coming through the ranks.
ESR was brought through as a last resort as we needed a CAM once Ozil was not available. (partially on merit)
Only player brought through 100% on merit was Saka.
Not every players must get to the age of 24 to 25 before the show there worth, how old was Henry before he shows his worth, so in nut shell of he wait for his time he may break straight into the team at 19 he was so if he martinelli that we signed as a senior player is not giving us problem on playing time but he balogun that we raise we our money is the one doing that so if he connot wait for his time he should just quietly leave, who is he what you cannot do at Liverpool, man City, man u Madrid and other big clubs, to hell with him
I have never seen enough of him to fully assess his ability,but from his cameo appearances, he has impressed me as a guy who can look after himself physically, and to whom, finishing comes naturally.If he leaves I shall be disappointed,but life goes on, and I wish him well.
That’s my point exactly. All of us are judging him based on what, 5 apparences from the bench? And some of us act like he is our savior. I’m not saying he isn’t talented, because I liked him too in those apparences, I’m just saying try not to judge someone based on 5 cameos
Not every players must get to the age of 24 to 25 before they show there worth, how old was Henry when he shows his worth, so in nut shell if he cannot wait for his time, he may break straight into the team at at age of 19 he is now, so if he martinelli that we signed as a senior player is not giving us problem on playing time, but he balogun that we raise with our money is the one doing that so if he connot wait for his time he should just quietly leave, who is he, what you cannot do at Liverpool, man City, man u Madrid and other big clubs, to hell with him