What would your reaction be if Mikel Arteta agreed to sell Folarin Balogun and Eddie Nketiah this window in order to sign Mohammed Kudus?
Inter Milan are thought to have settled on Balogun as their first-choice striker after missing out on Romelu Lukaku. Last season, the 21-year-old wowed while on loan at Stade de Reims, scoring 21 goals in 37 Ligue 1 outings. With such numbers, some Gooners would have assumed he was ready to lead Arteta’s attack; however, all indications suggest the Spaniard isn’t completely persuaded the Hale End Graduate is mature enough to be his main man in attack. Arsenal is willing to let him leave and hopes to recoup at least £40 million from his departure.
Eddie Nketiah, on the other hand, was expected to remain and continue deputising for Gabriel Jesus. However, the Englishman’s recent statements that he doesn’t want to be a backup and wants to be the main man, may force the club to sell him for around £35 million to Crystal Palace, who have also identified the Arsenal No. 14 as their top attacking transfer target to replace Wilfred Zaha.
Eddie Nketiah is the subject of interest from Crystal Palace, Wolves and Brentford. Right now he's focused on fighting for a starting spot at Arsenal. His price tag is set at £35 million. #AFC pic.twitter.com/BfmcDfwQLX
— Esosa Osa (@esosaosa19) July 28, 2023
The two players can bring in around £75 million for the club, which is a lot of money. Even with such a profit, one would wonder, “So who becomes Jesus’ deputy?”
Kudus could be this deputy, if signed, as the Ajax star has the ability to play numerous positions. The Ghanian can play in almost all attacking and midfield roles. With Partey expected to stay in the midfield, Arteta’s interest in Kudus may be to use him in attack.
Anyway, Havertz and Trossard could be other options for those who doubt Kudus’ ability to play No. 9. In the long run, if Nketiah and Balogun leave, Arsenal may be able to acquire a world-class striker next year.
Daniel O
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I’d rather Arsenal sell Nketiah and keep Balogun,Jesus as recognized strikers and buy Kudus to compete with Saka..there are others players they can sell to get income.sambi lokonga,Pepe,holding,Cedric,Tavares even runnarson
Sure I will Like Nketiah to go arteta should use balogun and At least we give pepe a try even for Now to January to increase his Value I still trust pepe with the team we are having who know kudus will be like pepe or better than pepe it’s epl
I would sell any player except for few untouchable if suitable offer come. Great team are made after selling some of their better players. Like juventus sold zidane, madrid sold ozil, higuaine, and host of high profile player and won multiple titles, liverpool sold suarez, cautinho and won multiple titles, even mancity sold jesus, sterling, zinko, ferran torres and won multiple titles. So if we get good value for our players then we should always sell our first team players as history have shown good players can be replaced by better one.
Not a chance. Selling them both isn’t an issue, the fact Kudus isn’t a striker is the issue
One or the other, not both.
Kudus for either as a swap or at a pinch +/- £10M.
Crazy to consider anything else.
For me I’d sell Nketiah, as a footballer, but he’s more Arsenal than Balogun.
Then again Cedric, Holding, Tavares, Lokonga, Pepe, Runarrson and one of the two younger goalkeepers amount to £50M, so get them out of the way for Kudus and keep both Nketiah and Balogun.
In paperwork its 50mil but what can we do if our transfer market is run by headless chicken. Ripping up of contract is most we can do and getting off of wage bill is the best we can gain. We have already made mistake in recent yrs by not selling AMN, ESR, holding and plethora of others when offer came and we are doing same with Balgaon and others. Be reasonable but don’t be greedy. If we keep up like this I am quite sure Balgaon, Nketiah, ESR and plenty others will leave for free again. How stupid management can be which dont even understand a basic fact.
I am okay to sell them both, but use the money to go for Lautauro Martinez from Inter.
I think Martinez would suit Arsenal’s style of play.
Just a thought
I think kudus is better than all current arsenal attackers. he is an all round footballer. He can also play as deffencive midfielder even as right back and effecivelly as no 8, right wing, left wing, no 10 and 9. generally he is not one player. if arsenal recruit him, one of the club star player would sit on the table.
Trosaad ?
If we are genuinely waiting to sell these players BEFORE we attempt to buy kudus,it won’t happen.He’ll be long gone.With Chelsea,Manure & Liverpool & even Brighton all sniffing about it’ll be too late.Mark my words.
My advice is get him in the door first.Then all incomings done.Remainder of window for the outgoings to how much we recoup.
Should Arsenal sell N’n’B to buy Mbappe?
I don’t know how good Kudus really is, but I would like to see Balogun get his chance – Nketiah certainly got his. I like the thought of bringing in an academy prospect (or youngster) every year or two. Last year it was Saliba, the year before Martinelli, before that Smith Rowe and even before that Saka! It might work again.
By the way Nketiah looks really ripped and seems to have worked hard in the gym. May be this might improve him from championship level to mid table premiership level. Sorry he isn’t good enough for where we want to be.
Anyway if we sell him, Balogun and the rest of the no hopers, we should really aim for Osimehen rather than Kudus?
Arsenal should not be selling Balogun for anything less than £50m up front. Why is it that we have to sell our players on the cheap while other clubs get to sell duds for £65M? Balogun is a striker that score goals and it is an insult for a club to think we should sell him for £30m.
Sell Eddie Nketiah to AC Milan Folarin Balogun to Inter Milan and buy Victor Osimhen
I personally rate Eddie more than Folarin, he’s a decent backup striker nd did really well when called upon to replace Jesus. I actually felt sorry for him as he was actually getting better with more game time nd caused lots of opposition defenders/keepers problems with his tenacity nd relentless pressing. His positioning is also top notch as a fox-in-the-box striker, [although missing laods of sitters, being in the right place at the right time is a art in itself] that not many strikers posses!
Felt like MA rushed back Jesus return but we really didn’t miss him when he was out injured. IMO I wouldn’t sacrifice a out n out striker for a winger/attacking midfielder, don’t get me wrong I’d luv for Kudos to sign up this season, him nd Caicedo nd would sell Bologun if we need to sell anyone!!!
COYG
You would sell a striker who scores and not give him a chance, but keep Nketiah who has shown little to nothing in 4 years?
Nketiah has said he doesn’t want to sit on the bench anymore. This preseason has reinforced that Nketiah is not close to starting for Arsenal, and should be sold.
4 years is enough time, we can’t continue to carry passengers like Nketiah.
Ideally I would like us to sign a striker if we were to sell both Flo and Eddie but I would still be happy with Kudus because Trossard and worse case Havertz could do a job upfront
I’d sell Nketiah to keep Balogun. Like most fans.