Chelsea can make perfect move with £50m Folarin Balogun transfer as talks held over Arsenal deal
Chelsea have been linked with a move for Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun this summer transfer window, with an asking price believed to be around £50million
Chelsea could cap off a hugely successful transfer window by signing Folarin Balogun from Arsenal this summer, amid links with a move for the striker.
It comes as the Blues near the end of the summer transfer window, with just days remaining before it slams shut. The west London outfit have recruited aggressively since the introduction of their new owners last May, with this market being no different.
Boehly-Clearlake are nearing £1billion spent in transfer fees alone, despite the fact that the performances on the pitch are yet to reflect that injection. There have been mistakes along the way, with a huge trimming of the squad required over the past few months to allow for more signings.
Since that was mostly wrapped up early, the incomings have been ramping up after the introductions of Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson. Romeo Lavia joined for a fee over the £50million mark just after Chelsea landed Moises Caicedo from Brighton in a British transfer record fee worth up to £115million.
With those recruits, along with a few others, Mauricio Pochettino will be hopeful he can get a tune out of his young cast of players at his disposal. That's not to say there won't be further additions, especially in the striker department, though he has warned about making another signing up front.
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The Argentinian head coach said last week: "We are working, of course, we are looking at all of the options that we can manage on the market. We can see the potential. But I think at the same time, we are keeping one or two eyes on Armando Broja. We cannot forget him. We cannot stop him. We really believe in him – we know how important he can be for Chelsea. We need to be careful."
With Armando Broja back in training, it remains to be seen how he could impact any deal for a forward option elsewhere in the coming days. However, if the Blues do persist with their approach for Arsenal striker Balogun, then may have the perfect signing available to them.
Firstly, according to Fabrizio Romano, the USMNT international has the same agents as Lavia, who Chelsea worked with to seal a deal for the Belgian earlier this window. The discussions led to potential talks on Balogun, which could also see a move pushed through easier on the player side.
When it comes to the Gunners, football.london understands the club rejected a bid from AS Monaco in the region of £34.4million for Balogun. The north London outfit are believed to be holding out for closer to £50million, with a club-record sale on the cards for the Hale End striker.
While a deal may be easier to secure on the player side, the youngster also has plenty of potential that he could reach, ticking all the right boxes of a transfer deal of the new regime. Should things not go to plan and Balogun doesn't reach his full potential, there's opportunities to sell him on while he is still young with some resale value.
There's also the marketing opportunities that come from such a deal, with the 22-year-old likely to be the face of USMNT for the future. Should he pursue that in Chelsea colours, then that will likely be broadcast to the wider US market, albeit many would hope with more success than Christian Pulisic's time at Stamford Bridge.
It remains to be seen if the deal will be pushed through, especially given Pochettino's warning over developing other players. However, Balogun could well be the final piece that caps off a successful summer transfer window for the Blues and takes them to the next level.