Arsenal: 4 players impacted by Folarin Balogun contract

Arsenal succeeded in lifting the mood ever so slightly following the 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague in the Europa League after it was revealed that Folarin Balogun is set to pen a new four-year contract in north London.

The 19-year-old, filed neatly into the ‘contract rebel’ folder as is common practice in such situations, appeared destined for a summer departure after months of negotiations over a new deal rumbled on with an amicable conclusion.

Cited as not seeing a clear path into the first team, regular comments from Mikel Arteta publicly about the situation countered those spread across the media.

Folarin Balogun was free to speak to clubs from January onwards and sign a pre-contract agreement with his deal expiring, with some sources stating a move had been arranged with a side on mainland Europe.

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Arsenal: 4 players impacted by Folarin Balogun contract ahead of summer transfer window

Arteta, meanwhile, spoke candidly of the situation explaining that the striker’s agent was making talks difficult to carry out with wages and assurances preventing Balogun from putting pen to paper, despite the Spaniard’s confidence and the Hale Ender’s desire to stay.

Now set to imminently pen a deal until 2025 after shunning the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Balogun has been given assurances of integration into the first team with Arteta and Edu succeeding in convincing him that his future is in north London.

An announcement is penciled in for Tuesday, with the impact of this decision having a knock-on effect to four other players in the squad.

The centre-forward dilemma facing the club in the summer has taken one step towards amending.

Eddie Nketiah

Standout among all of those affected is Eddie Nketiah, who has gone from playing some part in 12 of the opening 14 Premier League fixtures and starting in each of the Europa League group stage matches to not playing a single minute for the first team since late January up until Sunday.

He was on the pitch for a full one minute in the 0-0 draw with Manchester United, being with the Under-23 side, on the bench or not with the squad up until Sheffield United, where he played two minutes.the l

The future of the 21-year-old was already the source of speculation prior to the recent developments, but Balogun’s new deal has the writing on the wall for his fellow teammate at the end of the season.

Interestingly enough both Balogun and Nketiah have the same agent, thus the decision to tie the former down will have been done with an idea on the latter’s future as well.

Opting against loaning him out in January for whatever reason, a summer sale is expected to take place with Nketiah’s value having taken a hit, as with one year left on his deal unless he’s signed to a longer contract and loaned out it appears the only eventuality. With Balogun coming through there is no room for Nketiah, so a loan makes no sense.

There should be takers, albeit not at the price Arsenal originally would have liked.

Alexandre Lacazette

Another fairly obvious one is Alexandre Lacazette, whose form has polarised the debate over whether Arsenal should keep hold of him for next season.

Does he stay until the end of his deal? Do Arsenal offer him a new contract? Should they sell him in the summer?

The answer simply has to be sell. While a fan favourite and without a bad word to say of the 29-year-old, arriving on the money he has and with the goal return he’s produced, it hasn’t been a successful purchase financially speaking.

With Balogun’s future now cemented it gives Arsenal greater freedom to accept what offers come in. Of course, the 19-year-old is not a direct replacement considering he has never set foot on a Premier League pitch yet and it’s unhealthy to expect too much of him already, but he is physically strong and holds the ball up well in a similar vein to Lacazette.

Even though he’s come under stinging criticism there are enough suitors across Europe interested in his signature, the like that will have been boosted by a superb display against Sheffield United, and Arsenal absolutely can’t afford to miss the opportunity to sell like they did last summer. Balogun’s extension looks like being a step towards that.

Gabriel Martinelli

Someone affected in a positive way is Gabriel Martinelli.

Widely circulated that Arteta sees him as a centre-forward in the long-term, the manager even said as much pre-lockdown. While it’s a process that is dragging on longer than most supporters, and certain pundits *cough* Keown *cough* would have liked, the decision is Arteta’s and he’s clearly easing into the transition.

With winnable (if such a term exists for Arsenal) Premier League fixtures before the end of the season there is scope for Martinelli to play a few matches as the striker, but it is next season which will be most exciting.

Should Nketiah and Lacazette leave as expected, Martinelli will be behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and ahead of Balogun in the pecking order for centre-forward, on the basis Arsenal don’t sign another striker.

They are expected to do so if the Frenchman departs, but it opens up the door for the Brazilian to  master his craft in the position. It’s speculation that he’ll be ahead of Balogun – but expected nonetheless given his total lack of top-flight experience – meaning less time unfairly warming the bench and more time burning past centre-backs.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

There are a few events that need to take place before the impact on Aubameyang is fully felt. However, working on the basis that Lacazette departs and Arsenal are left with three centre-forwards – one without any experience and one without regular minutes in the position – the Aubameyang left-winger insistence may finally be put to bed.

It has worked on occasion. The key words being ‘on occasion’.

This is a striker whose bread and butter is scoring goals, something he’d done throughout his career. Questions are asked of his commitment yet any striker who made his name as a centre-forward being asked to perform tasks outside of his skillset and in positions he certainly will not want to play for the sake of the team dispels that notion.

If Balogun signing makes way for Lacazette to leave then Aubameyang will be the undisputed first choice striker for the coming campaign. Being 32 come that time, he is wasted being thrust into wide areas to act as a left midfielder or even a left wing-back, when his strengths are in between the perimeters of the penalty box.

Another striker comes in and it restructures the debate, granted. Yet with age not on his side and the other option in the position potentially leaving, we can hope it signals Aubameyang at centre-forward regularly.