HERE WE GO: Kylian Mbappe to Arsenal is a Done deal already as player have already accepted personal terms with the club,4yrs contract to be signed, Medical soon
Arsenal are standing firm over their internal valuation of Folarin Balogun as the attention turns quickly away from how he fits into Mikel Arteta’s squad and toward where he will be playing his football next season.
Having been left out of the squad for the Community Shield victory over Manchester City, the 22-year-old has been told in clear terms that he isn’t seen as having a role as part of the squad. With Gabriel Jesus injured and Kai Havertz yet to establish himself as a centre forward, it was last chance saloon to prove his point.
Howevever, Arteta saw things differently and left him out of the 20-man squad for the game, instead choosing Eddie Nketiah on the bench and Havertz from the off. With Nottingham Forest in the league opener less than a week away, the chances of seeing him feature at the City Ground are slim.
Arsenal have already batted away interest from Inter, who have failed to reach the £50million ($64m) valuation in their loan option with an obligation to buy, and now football.london has learnt that an offer from Monaco has also been turned down.
Made at the Emirates Cup clash last week when Balogun was once more left out of the matchday squad, Monaco submitted an opening proposal for the USMNT striker but haven’t been put off.
It is said that sporting director Thiago Scuro, who is close with Arsenal’s own recruitment chief Edu Gaspar, will go back in for Balogun. Having scored 21 times for Stade de Reims in France last season, it’s not a surprise.
football.london says: Inter are also reportedly set to go back in for Balogun after forward target Gianluca Scamacca moved toward joining Atalanta. There is a potential bidding war on offer here for Arsenal if only they are willing to accept at some stage
Whether they themselves are totally convinced by the set price point or not is unclear. If they value him at £50million ($64m) but not enough to actually play him, what does that say about their true opinion? There is then the question as to what sort of message this sends to the Hale End academy stars on their way through
Balogun has had a tough time to make it to this stage alone. His troubled experience at Middlesbrough coupled with this rocky period being intergrated into the side now and is finding it near impossible to get close to making an impression on the established elite.
It’s a worrying place to end up at as a club and currently neither party are benefitting from the relative stand-off.
Ligue 1 strikers are somewhat the rage currently. From Balogun to a slightly more high profile name, Kylian Mbappe is also up for sale this summer. Paris Saint-Germain set their stall out early, banishing him from the pre-season tour squad of Japan, and now they’re finally gaining the attention they desire.
Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal have had their offer of £260million ($333m) accepted but it is an offer from Major League Soccer that is on the horizon. According to the Daily Record, executives in the American league are putting together a proposal to Mbappe.
It comes just months after his former PSG teammate Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami, turning down a deal to move to the Middle East in favour of fronting up the MLS instead. It is said that the league are keen to finance a deal in similar ways to that of their Messi bid, offering novel structures inclduing potential team ownership.
“There was only one David Beckham, there’s only one Lionel Messi,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said earlier this year. “But, you know, who knows? Mbappe wants to come into the league and a team in our MLS wants to do something unique? MLS is ambitious and innovative and who knows what kind of structure we’ll come up with.”
It is not until January that sides can register new players, by which point there may only be six months left on Mbappe’s contract at Parc des Princes. With an ideal price of £129million ($164m), it now waits to be seen how the league would go about bringing in the 24-year-old.
football.london says: Arsenal are still looking to do more business this summer…We’ll leave that one out there
Although it would take another club record bid to even make PSG consider selling Mbappe, fans are allowed to dream. With Balogun on his way out and the striker role potentially one that still falls short of having ample depth, Mbappe would be the ideal replacement.
Ideal, unrealistic? What’s the difference? Arteta has got the best out of his attackers so far with impressive returns from Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka as well as Jesus when he was fit. Mbappe would perfectly fit the bill for a wide attacker capable of operating through the middle and if they can complete some major sales in the final weeks of the window, perhaps a late bid is possible.
It’s highly unlikely but then again very few people actually thought that Mbappe would ever be on the move this summer to anywhere other than Real Madrid.
