Inter Milan has emerged as new suitors for Arsenal’s want away forward, Folarin Balogun. This move for Balogun came into fruition after Inter and Chelsea failed to reach an agreement for the services of Romelu Lukaku.

Folarin Balogun moved from the Arsenal Reserves to Ligue Un outfit, Stade de Reims, on loan last season and was tasked by his manager, Mikel Arteta, to develop like a man.

“Before I moved, the gaffer (Arteta) just wanted me to develop as a man. It was kind of like an open answer and it was for me to interpret what he meant by ‘develop as a man’.

By moving abroad, I’m starting to learn what he meant by that. It doesn’t just mean on the pitch but also off the pitch. I think by the time I go back I’ll be in a better place to compete than I was before I left.

Going on loan is always beneficial, especially for youngsters, as it gives them the opportunity to showcase themselves in a competitive environment, and affects the final decision making of the parent club, on whether to keep the player for the long term, or just ship him off to the highest bidder.

One lad that has seen the immense benefits of consistent loan spells has been one of our defensive lynchpins, William Saliba. He was sign from St. Etienne with huge fan fare but he wasn’t ready to play for Arsenal as he was relatively raw, so he moved on loan to St. Etienne, OGC Nice and finally, Olympique Marseille, before solidifying his status as one of the mainstays in the Arsenal defense for the foreseeable future.

Balogun had a loan spell last season with Middlesbrough in the Championship, but it wasn’t really a success from a personal standpoint, as he garnered just three goals in 20 appearances for the club. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette leaving, Balogun must have felt that he would earn a call up to the first team, to deputize behind Eddie Nketiah, but with the acquisition of Gabriel Jesus, he was would remain further down the pecking order.

His loan spell at Stade de Reims was a monumental success, and massive credit has to go to his manager, William Still, for trusting him to lead the line as Balogun has been an ever-present for the French club this season, and his plethora of goals has propelled the club to 11th place finish in the French Ligue Un. 21 goals later, Balogun returned to Arsenal as the man Arteta wanted him to be as he was the fourth highest scorer in the League, finishing behind Kylian Mbappe (29), Alexandre Lacazette (27) and Jonathan David (24).

Things got even better for the youngster, as he received a national team call up from the United States, and scored a goal in their Nations League finals against Canada.

On his return to Arsenal, Balogun has confirmed that he’s not going out on loan again,

“What I can say is that I definitely won’t go on loan again.

“I’m not sure (about) the discussions that are going to take place, I’m not sure what’s going to happen.

“But I’m just committed to now, I try to stay present. I obviously want to enjoy the moment with my team and my family.”

This essentially means that it’s either Mikel Arteta adds him to his plans this season, or ships him out to the highest bidder. Arsenal seems inclined to the second option, dropping a price tag of £50m for the American forward. The Athletic has reported that talks are ongoing between Balogun’s representatives and Inter Milan, but there has been no club-to-club offer just yet. However, it is believed that Inter Milan is set to place a bid of £34.3m for Balogun, which is far beyond what Arsenal would want for their man.

Edu Gaspar and his negotiation team have been awesome this summer delivering Arteta’s targets early enough to bed in with the squad for the rest of preseason, but Arsenal has spent over £200m and have garnered only £27m from the sales of Granit Xhaka and Pablo Mari. If the club are valuing Balogun at 50m, then they must do everything in their power to ensure that Inter Milan pays £50m for the lad. It’s not long ago that we were on the other end of the table slugging it out with West Ham who ensured that they milked the situation to the very end, with Arsenal paying a British record fee for Declan Rice.

Balogun is just 22 years of age and is worth every penny Inter Milan wants to pay for him. Arsenal just has to ensure that Inter Milan pays the premium price.

Sayonara.