West Ham United have held talks regarding a summer deal to sign Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun, according to reports.
Who is Folarin Balogun?
Balogun is a striker and academy graduate at the Emirates Stadium having worked his way up through the various youth ranks to get promoted to the first-team, but having only ever made ten senior appearances for the Premier League giants, he’s twice hit the road to aid his development.
The United States international first completed a loan at Middlesbrough in the Championship, before most recently finishing a spell with Stade Reims, as per Transfermarkt, where he was a star man, starting 34 out of the 38 Ligue 1 matches and bagging 21 goals.
Despite still having another two years to run on his contract with Mikel Arteta’s side, the 21-year-old majorly impressed during his time overseas and established himself as Will Still’s top-performing offensive player, and David Moyes and Co are now in ongoing negotiations to try and bring the talented youngster to E20.
Are West Ham signing Balogun?
According to Football Transfers, West Ham have “discussed” Balogun with Arsenal whilst in talks over a move for Declan Rice. The Irons have made the centre-forward a “priority” target and are “willing to accept a part-exchange deal” that would see their captain departing and the Gunners star coming the other way, with some cash of course.
West Ham will know that they are likely to lose Gianluca Scamacca this summer as he has reportedly agreed personal terms to join AS Roma, so they will require a replacement should he depart, and having been hailed a “golden” striker by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Balogun could be the perfect successor.
Arsenal’s £32k-per-week ace, who’s sponsored by Adidas, racked up an unbelievable 24 goal contributions (21 goals and three assists) in his Ligue 1 outings last season, while recording 121 shots, which was more than any of his fellow teammates, as per FBRef.
The New York native, who was recognised for his individual displays by receiving four man-of-the-match awards, is also a versatile operator with his ability to play out wide on both the left and right flanks alongside his natural role through the middle, so this will no doubt be yet another attractive attribute to the boss.
Following his successful loan at Stade Reims, Balogun is likely to be looking for a permanent move to a club that he knows will be able to offer him regular minutes just as he received in France, which is set to be the case should he make the switch across the capital, and considering everything he has to offer, it would be a massive coup should he arrive at the London Stadium.