Arsenal could profit if Juventus moves for former forward Folarin Balogun

Arsenal stand to gain financially if Juventus sign Folarin Balogun, who is reportedly on the Italian club’s list of January targets. The Gunners hold a 17.5% sell-on clause from his 2023 move to Monaco, which was worth around €40m (£34.3m), so they would receive that share of any future transfer fee. At a fee of around £40m, that would be roughly £7m.

Everton move collapsed on deadline day

Arsenal missed out on a payout in the summer. Balogun had agreed a permanent move to Everton from Monaco in a deal reported at around £40m, and he travelled to Merseyside for a medical.

Monaco’s sporting director, Thiago Scuro told AFP: “Everton had some issues on the medical side of things. Our medical people and Balogun’s team rejected that. They were then ready to close the deal – but obviously the player didn’t want to move after having problems about his health.”

The club confirmed last week that it had been ready to wrap up the deal, but Balogun has chosen to stay at Goodison Park. If this had transpired, Arsenal would also receive a portion of the sale fee via the sell-on clause.

Juventus reportedly weighing a January move

Juventus have been linked with Balogun in the Italian press. La Gazzetta dello Sport has named him as a target, and 4-4-2 reported that the Turin club could make their move as early as January. Monaco are said to want around €40m for the striker.

Football London reports that Balogun is one of three forwards on Juventus’s list, alongside Al-Qadsiah’s Mateo Retegui and Frosinone’s Antonio Raimondo.

The interest comes as Nick Woltemade, who joined on loan from Newcastle on deadline day, has yet to settle. His deal includes no option to buy, so he is due to return to Tyneside next summer. He sent a chance over the bar after coming off the bench on his debut against AC Milan. He also missed a good chance in Germany’s 2-0 win over Serbia on 1 October, which was Jürgen Klopp’s first victory as national team coach.

Balogun’s Arsenal career

Balogun joined Arsenal aged 10 and came through the academy, making his first-team debut as a substitute against Dundalk in the Europa League in October 2020. He struggled to break into the senior side and spent time on loan at Middlesbrough, where he scored three goals in 18 appearances. Balogun then had a prolific season on loan at Reims, scoring 21 league goals, before moving to Monaco. He has scored 31 goals in more than 90 appearances for the Ligue 1 club.