Arteta Urged to Sell £107m Attacking Duo in Summer Fire Sale
The Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has been advised to sell the attacking tandem of Folarin Balogun and Nicolas Pepe prior to the upcoming season.
The Gunners have moved swiftly this summer to acquire Arteta’s main targets. They have already acquired Chelsea’s Kai Havertz, and West Ham’s Declan Rice and Ajax’s Jurrien Timber are on the verge of concluding their respective moves to the Emirates.
These three acquisitions will cost approximately £200 million, so sales will likely be required to balance the accounts.
Balogun is one player who is anticipated to transfer this summer. Last season, he scored 21 league goals while on loan at Ligue 1 club Reims, and he is unwilling to negotiate a contract with Arsenal.
AC Milan and RB Leipzig are reportedly interested in purchasing him this summer for approximately £35 million, and the club is purportedly willing to sell him.
If Balogun decides to remain with Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah would presumably be ranked ahead of him in terms of playing time.
Alan Smith, a former Gunners player, believes the sale of Balogun would “help them quite a bit” in terms of Financial Fair Play regulations.
“It’s difficult because [Balogun] has fallen a few pegs in the pecking order, especially with Havertz joining the team,” Smith told Gambling Zone.
Balogun and Nketiah are similar athletes, so the club must believe that Nketiah is slightly superior. From Balogun’s perspective, he will be more concerned with how much playing time he will receive.
He continued, “After his season in France, he is a valuable player who can likely command over £30 million.” With financial fair play and everything else, Arsenal could benefit significantly.”
Smith believes it would be prudent for Arsenal to get clear of £72 million flops Nicolas Pepe, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and Rob Holding.
“Nicolas Pepe, I haven’t seen too much about him in the papers regarding a move,” Smith added.
“‘He was bought for far too much money, and it’d be great to recoup some of that because I don’t think Arteta is a massive fan. You can’t hang your hat on him.”
“Players like Tavares and Lokonga, promising youngsters, could move on. Arteta certainly does need to get two or three players off of the wage bill.
“Rob Holding has been linked with a move away. There’s not much potential for him to get into the team now.
“I think you’d be loathe to let him go because he just seems like such a good team player. Holding is great in the dressing room and he will always give it his all but he is probably a level below where you need to be for Arsenal – he may have to leave.”
Arteta Urged to Sell £107m Attacking Duo in Summer Fire Sale
