Fabrizio Romano says the ιɴjυɾу to Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus “could change the situation” surrounding Folarin Balogun’s future.
The Gunners have ɾєρօɾτedly made it clear that they are willing to offload Balogun this summer if they receive a bid of £50m or more with Inter and AC Milan interested in his services.
Balogun scored 22 goals in 39 appearances last season for Ligue 1 sideStade Reims and that has seen the 22-year-old’s valuation shoot up.
A ɾєρօɾτ yesterday claimed that the USA international has ‘asked’ Arsenal to‘drop their asking price’for him with clubs struggling to reach their £50m target.
But he might not be going anywhere, depєɴԀing on the severity of Jesus’ knee ιɴjυɾу,with Mikel Arteta confirming yesterday that the Brazilian has undergone surgery, describing it as a “big blow”.
Jesus will now miss the first weeks of the season at the very least and Romano reckons Arsenal now have lots to “consider in the next days” as they weight up whether to keep Balogun, who has also been linked with West Ham.
Romano wrote in hisCaught Offsidecolumn: “Mikel Arteta confirmed bad news for Arsenal yesterday as Gabriel Jesus will be out for a few weeks with a knee ιɴjυɾу.
“This is obviously not good news for Arsenal, but we also have to wait and see how this will evolve – will try to understand how long it will take to have Jesus back and then we will see how it impacts their transfer ρłɑɴs, because for sure it could change the situation on Folarin Balogun.
“It could be something for Arsenal to consider in the next days – to keep Balogun as cover, or to sell and bring in someone new.
“For now, there are no changes on Balogun as Arteta said. It remains the case that Arsenal want big money for Balogun, that’s the position. Inter know that €35/40m is not enough and so they are currently focused on Gianluca Scamacca. I’m not aware of direct talks with West Ham over Balogun, despite rumours circulating on that one.
“Also on Arsenal, talks are ongoing with Brentford for David Raya. There’s no official bid yet but the two clubs are speaking – Raya has agreed personal terms, so he wants Arsenal and Arsenal want him.
“Now it’s about agreeing a fee with Brentford, but all parties are negotiating – it’s very concrete. We could see Raya moving to Arsenal to compete with Aaron Ramsdale.”
