Folarin Balogun leaves Arsenal permanently for French club

Folarin Balogun, a talented player for Arsenal seeking a permanent place for minutes, is on his way out. Fitting in his desire, Monaco is acquiring the USMNT forward permanently. Last season, the American was on loan at Reims and still under full contract at Arsenal.

He scored 21 goals in the league for Reims last season. This change gives him an opportunity to play significant minutes this season. There was no guarantee of consistent playing time at the Emirates. Balogun was behind both Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah in Mikel Arteta’s squad. While Jesus has been injured, Nketiah has two goals in Arsenal’s first three games of the campaign.

USMNT forward fell out of Arteta’s favor

The Gunners had shown a willingness to consider bids for the attacker, who is reportedly not in Arteta’s plans. The Arsenal manager informed reporters of the plan for Balogun before the season began.

“The plan with Flo doesn’t change at all. But unfortunately, with Gabby [out], we’re not going to have him. We have other options to play with different qualities of players, so we will adapt.”

How much did Monaco pay for Folarin Balogun?

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Gunners’ upper management of the club approved his transfer to Monaco because of a substantial sell-on clause. After factoring in incentives, the club will collect a total of $44 million for his services.

Folarin Balogun will officially join Monaco on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the American completed his checkups and physicals to ensure he is medically sound.

After a successful youth career with both the Arsenal and the England national team, Balogun switched allegiances to the United States. Chelsea and Inter Milan also enquired about the American striker this summer.

However, even though he had a great last season in Ligue 1, he will not be guaranteed a starting spot for Monaco this year. Wissam Ben Yedder, the French superstar and the club’s main striker, leads a talented squad of attackers for the club.

PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images