Inter Milan president Steven Zhang has made it clear he would like to sign Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun this summer as he targets players with ‘a growth perspective’.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who say it is either Balogun or Udinese’s Beto that will be arriving to replace Romelu Lukaku this summer.
The newspaper explains that Zhang linked up with his team on their pre-season tour in Tokyo yesterday, where a meeting was held to discuss their transfer business moving forwards.
Signing a striker is considered a priority after they abandoned their plans to buy Romelu Lukaku and the choice is now limited to Balogun and Beto.
The latter is preferred on a technical level but a deal for Balogun ‘teases’ those in charge and they are looking into their options.
At the moment it seems a difficult deal to get over the line as Arsenal value Balogun at €40m following his successful loan spell in France last season.
That, coupled with ‘particularly onerous’ payments to agents means the Champions League finalists are sitting back and considering their options.
Balogun is the preferred option for Zhang, though, as he wants to chase players who can grow with the club and potentially be sold on for massive profit down the line. Balogun certainly falls into that category.
Corriere dello Sport say similar, stating that it is actually sporting director Piero Ausilio who is most backing the move for the Arsenal man at this moment in time.
The belief is that the American’s lack of gametime this summer hints that the Gunners are open to selling him, although it is difficult to imagine that they will drop below a €35m asking price. That’s still too much for the Italians.
The interest is there, though, with the upper management currently split on who to go for and that all being hashed out in their latest meeting.
Balogun has votes either way and if a deal can be done with the Gunners, Inter would be more than happy to sign him this summer.
