Folarin Balogun posts wordless message on Twitter after claims he’s been training alone with Arsenal

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22-year-old Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun took to Twitter after reports circled that he had been training alone at Arsenal. 

The USMNT forward was working with an individual coach away from the rest of the team and Mikel Arteta during pre-season, according to the Athletic.

The reasons behind this are not clear. But the striker did post a wordless tweet with just an emoji of a diamond and a picture of himself. 

Again, the message was a bit of a cryptic one.

Whether Balogun tweeted out the diamond as a supposed reminder of his quality is unclear, but the timing of the post was certainly interesting.

It seems increasingly likely that the Hale End graduate will be leaving the club this summer. 

The forward’s future is very uncertain and Arsenal are still looking for around £50m if they sell the player.

Inter Milan still hold a strong interest and Brighton have also been linked with a move.

Although it may transpire there’s a fitness issue causing Balogun to train alone, as with Oleksandr Zinchenko, it seems very unlikely.

Zinchenko has a calf issue but there’s no reported injury for Balogun who simply seems to be closer to leaving.

It may come as a disappointment to Arsenal fans, especially those in the US who will have been hoping to see him play minutes.

Whilst Balogun isn’t ruled out of the coming friendlies, it feels like the move away has now reached a new stage.

Arsenal will want this situation sorted promptly, especially if they still hold interest in the likes of Elye Wahi.

Balogun is training on his own on Arsenal’s US tour

Such a training situation would ideally be kept out of the public eye from an Arsenal point of view but it’s difficult when on pre-season tour.

Arsenal’s training sessions are often open to media and fans whilst in the States.

Balogun, however, seems that he will not shy away from having his say on the matter.

And whilst his reaction was quite cryptic, it does seem that he wants to portray his side of the story.

Arsenal’s next pre-season friendly is against Barcelona in the early hours of Thursday morning.

It’ll be interesting to see if Balogun is involved in any capacity or if he continues in individual training.

And with only three friendlies left before the season starts, with one of those the FA Community Shield against Manchester City, a resolution will surely be sought quickly.

Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have been keen to sort their business promptly this summer.

And as Balogun will surely agree, there’s no benefit to this situation looming over the rest of pre-season.