Mikel Arteta, when asked about Balogun recently confirmed the club is working with his agent to agree a deal. This is what he said –
“I think I am pretty positive about it and every time I spoke to him, he mentions the same thing, that he’s determined to stay here and he wants to stay here. He has some really positive conversations with his agent as well and Edu is in charge of that. He’s been spending a lot of time and energy to make that deal happen because it’s important for us to keep our talent in the house, and what we can guarantee is that we’re doing everything we can to keep him.” source – arsenal.com
There are couple of things which makes it important that the club makes this deal happen. Mikel has given enough chances to Eddie, both in Premier League matches and FA cup/Europa but he had failed to repeat his U23 success till now. He is hardly seen on bench recently. Most of the strikers boom late in their careers but for now, Eddie is not working out.
Second important thing is Lacazette is entering into his final year of contract this summer. We already have a experienced, seasoned striker in Aubameyang and I’m not sure how much Arteta is interested in keeping him. He has some good moments this season but you expect much more with a 180k/week player with years of experience. He should be moved out, providing a relief to Arsenal’s wage bill. Moreover, there’s no point keeping two 200k / week players fighting for the same spot.
This is why keeping Balogun gets important. He is young, home grown and you don’t have to pay a ton of money. We have seen him playing where he showed some glimpse but more game time is needed to really decide if he is one of the ‘Saka, ESR, Martinelli’ level talent.
It’s easier to take that risk with a homegrown player with resell value than to buy one on a high wage and hope he adjusts to the league and deliver.
What do you think?
