Fulham ready to offer £35m plus add-ons for Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun
|Fulham are ready to offer £35 million plus add-ons for Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun, according to the Daily Mail plus Transfer Confidential.
The Gunners are holding out for £50m, which has dissuaded suitors from bidding for the United States international.
The Daily Express reported earlier today that the 22-year-old, Rob Holding, Nicolas Pepe, Cedric Soares and Albert Sambi Lokonga have been told they can move on.
However, finding buyers for them has so far proven complicated for sporting director Edu.
Fulham have lost Aleksandar Mitrovic to Al Hilal, and the London club are convinced Balogun has what it takes to deliver in front of goal and replace the Serbian after he bagged 22 goals while on loan in Ligue 1 with Reims last term.
Chelsea are also interested in the Arsenal academy graduate, while AS Monaco are continuing to monitor his situation having had their first bid rejected.
Balogun wants out in order to play regular first-team football, and Inter Milan were keen on him earlier this summer, but they have moved on to other targets as his £50m asking price was too much for them.
The Gunners will have to lower their demands, and getting £35m plus add-ons from Fulham is the best deal they can possibly get for the young striker this summer.
They could look to strengthen their squad due to injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Jurrien Timber, but they want to raise funds before buying and they should not hesitate to do business with the Craven Cottage club so as to quickly wrap things up ahead of the last 11 days of the summer transfer window.