When Folarin Balogun returned to Arsenal from his loan at Stade de Reims, some sections of the Gunners fanbase were hopeful that Mikel Arteta would include him in his plans.
However, everything the Spanish manager has done since throughout pre-season has been the opposite, often leaving him out of squads or giving him the smallest amount of minutes in friendlies.
L’Equipe have an article in their newspaper on Tuesday about AS Monaco’s attempt to sign the Arsenal player, after they made their move following the serious injury sustained by Breel Embolo.
The €30m bid was turned down by Edu Gaspar, but that doesn’t mean the principality side are ready to give up, especially when you look at the situation Balogun is in.
His 43 minutes spread over two friendlies in pre-season are a clear message that if Arteta ‘was counting on him’, he would be using the player far more and ‘would go about it differently’.
That’s why ‘the door seems open’ for AS Monaco or any other club (Inter Milan really like him), and the new manager at the Ligue 1 club, Adi Hutter, even praised Balogun of late, deserving him as a ‘very interesting player’.
We now need someone to match Arsenal’s expectations for a transfer, or it could be a very long season for the USA international.
