The focus this summer will certainly be on the improvement of the squad so that Arsenal can establish itself at the top of the table for years to come. The season at hand cannot be an anomaly and the midfield and defence in particular could do with some more quality additions.
However, sporting director Edu Gaspar is also facing the reality of needing to ensure the club’s sales reputation drastically improves. Only a few sales have earned the club significant capital although the Brazilian deserves some sympathy with the lack of sellable assets he inherited when taking the role.
One of the key players whose future remains up in the air is Folarin Balogun. The striker is on loan at Reims in Ligue 1 where his eighteenth goal of the league season last weekend has seen his stock rise even further,
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According to The Athletic, Balogun wants to ensure that wherever he is next season he remains the first-choice striker. Although he’d prefer it be at Arsenal, with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah in the position, it seems unlikely that this will be the case.
Therefore with interest from a host of clubs including AC and Inter Milan, Marseille, Lille and RB Leipzig, the Gunners are not short of clubs to help spark a potential bidding war. That said, a sale does not necessarily have to be the end of Balogun’s time with the club.
Chelsea sold Tammy Abraham to Roma in 2021 for a figure in the region of £34million. They’d brought back Romelu Lukaku and couldn’t guarantee the England international a spot in the side.
However, knowing the forward’s quality, they made sure to include a buy-back clause at double the figure the Rome-based side paid, £68million, that would come into effect from June 2023 that they could activate should they want to bring him back.
This example should act as a potential blueprint for Arsenal in any sale of Balogun. Of course, entering sell-on or buy-back clauses into deals lowers any potential sale's value, but the club would be better off preventing the risk of any regret should Balogun’s development continue to skyrocket.
Sell-on clauses have been common practice at the club, especially since Edu’s introduction. Matteo Guendouzi, Joe Willock and Konstantinos Mavropanos are all expected to have sell-on clauses in their contracts as they left for Marseille, Newcastle and Stuttgart respectively.
The future of Balogun will be one of the high-profile moves of Arsenal’s summer. The club just need to make sure they get the decision-making correct.
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