Ornstein says Balogun set to leave Arsenal on a free transfer

Arsenal fans have seen glimpses of Folarin Balogun’s great skills in our Europa League games this season, and he has been hotly tipped to be a superstar striker in the future. The bad news is that it seems that the Gunners have not been able to persuade the 19 year old to extend his contract, although he has been with the club since he was 10 years old.

It was reported that Sheffield United tried to buy Balogun in the summer, but Arteta decided to keep him at the Emirates and try to persuade him to stay. When Arteta gave Balogun his senior debut against Dundalk, the boss told the Mail: ‘He’s a player that I really like,’

‘Obviously I’ve got this situation and I believe it’s later than what I would like because I wasn’t here when everything started to develop, but yes, he’s a player that I would like to give chances to.

‘That’s why he was in the squad today and I showed him that yes, we count on him and we believe in him and if he wants, he’s going to have a future in the club.’

But there is now little chance of any contract being agreed, and on January 1st, the youngster can start talking to foreign clubs, with a few Bundesliga clubs reported to be keen.

The Arsenal oracle David Ornstein has now told the Athletic that Arsenal are still talking to his agent, but they are very far from a resolution and Balogun is set to leave as a free agent.

19 Comments

    1. All Wenger’s fault again Sue!!!

      I thought the club was going to sort this out when he left?

      What is it Balogun wants, that the club can’t give him?
      It’s not as if we’re prolific in front of goal at the moment.

      1. KEN, ARE YOU SERIOUS? “What is it he wants?” Isn’t that obvious! He wants to play in the Prem and so he should!

        1. first team regular football

          he can improve by playing regularly

          unfortunately we cant give him that

          fans will want a big name and big tag striker to led the attack

          3 to 5 years later….if he succeds Arteta will be blamed for letting him go

      2. Minutes, Ken… he’ll walk straight into sooo many teams.. I can’t see him being content with sitting on our bench and who could blame him??
        Will not be happy if he does leave…

  1. That would be painful. The lad will become an Andy Cole. If we ket him go then we have lost our way. He is at another level than Nketiah. How far down can this club go?

  2. That just sums up Recruitment/ person responsible for Contracts.

    It was not great under AW but a lot lot better than what it is now.

    Who is in charge of these things now? Circus clowns.

  3. this has been coming so the board can;t be surprised. Of course he is thinking hes better than Nketia , for me he is with nketia being a l1 player for me.If he had had Eddies gametime we would not be losing a player who its obvious will be starring at the pool or bundesliga in a couple of years with a 60m pricetag in a couple of years.Sad to see and hard to understand

  4. The team is at fault for not renewing his contract till this time. Peehaps he’s asking too much from the club.

    Would anyone guarantee a first choice striker roll for Balogun?

    Would Arsenal agree a higher wage like 100k p/w?

    What if he’s offered a first striker roll and he flops? We will all again turn on to the management for agreeing a bad terms. He has the power now so he will demand anything he wants.

    We don’t know much so let’s keep calm.

  5. Even if the club does not want him which I can not believe we should have found enough game time for the kid to play get him to sign a contract then if they wanted to cash in. this is a special talent, him smith Rowe saka we should of got tied down and cash in on Eddie, Willock and nelson and reinvest the money. this is a disaster and all we had to do is give him the game time we gave Eddie. balagon is a far superior player who can hold the ball up and link play, this and saliba are absolute disater, top players in the making.

  6. It’s not like I’m convinced that Balogun is a lock for stardom, but I’m even less positive about Eddie’s chances to reach such heights…I just can’t fathom why we haven’t provided more opportunities for him, considering how out of form Laca has been for extended stretches and how pedestrian most of Eddie’s appearances have been since his promotion to the first team…even more confounding is the fact that Arteta tactics, for some inexplicable reason, have emphasized a ridiculous amount of crosses, yet he still doesn’t get the call, even though those in the know suggest he’s clearly our best option up top for that style of play…we can ill-afford to lose quality players, especially those with a high ceiling, low wages and such a lengthy history with our club…can you smell another Gnabry…if one was to believe that we’re undergoing a well-orchestrated transitional phase, which I’m incredibly skeptical about, would this not be the best time for a player like Balogun to get his shot…that fact that he’s not means that either the whole “rebuild” notion is nothing more than a false narrative created out of a position of desperation or they don’t rate him…it’s not like we didn’t know about this potential contractual issue at the start of the season, as most felt it was why he was named to the Europa squad…I would suspect it’s another case of the club failing to live up to promises…maybe he should try and get Willian’s super agent to represent him

  7. Give him 100/200 gbp grand upfront.
    Shd he turn out to be another Gnaybry, Arsenal will be
    embarrassed.
    His case is similar to rvp.

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