Arsenal sold the right amount of players in the summer. While it was known Mikel Arteta needed to offload some players, there were question marks as to how many players he should sell to recuperate the money spent and, more importantly, which players were surplus to requirements.
There was always going to be a striker sold. In pre-season, Arteta had the choice between Gabriel Jesus, Folarin Balogun and Eddie Nketiah. These are all incredible options, who would start for a lot of Premier League sides. However, to have three means that one of them is the third choice, which is just not fair given their quality.
In the end, it was Folarin Balogun who was sold which was no surprise since he had no experience in this Arsenal setup. He will play for Monaco permanently, with the Gunners including a sell-on clause within the sale which was a smart move.
Fabrizio Romano denies Arsenal’s buy-back clause with Folarin Balogun rumours
Rumours have been doing the rounds on social media that there could be a buy-back clause, should Arsenal wish to activate it. However, the most trusted source Fabrizio Romano has spoken out to squash those rumours.
Folarin Balogun, set to travel to Monaco on Tuesday in order to undergo medical tests and complete his permanent move to AS Monaco ⚪️🔴🛩️ #ASMonaco
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 28, 2023
€40m package deal plus sell on clause for Arsenal in the future — agreed last Saturday, set to be sealed.
Here we go, confirmed. pic.twitter.com/mJp8CYpaX4
According to his exclusive with Caught Offside, he is unaware of any buy-back clause in Folarin Balogun’s contract. While he can 100% confirm that Arsenal will receive a sell-on clause should Monaco sell in the future, there is no buy-back clause for Arsenal to active as far as he’s aware.
What did you make of Mikel Arteta’s decision to sell Folarin Balogun?