Journalist shares what he’s now heard about Folarin Balogun and a move to Marseille

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Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun has been in the headlines for a number of different reasons over the last few weeks.

Balogun scored his first goal for the USA last night in a 2-0 win over Canada. Following on from that, he has since admitted he has no desire to go out on loan next season, fuelling talk of a permanent Arsenal exit.

And according to journalist Jonathan Johnson, a move to Marseille over in Ligue 1 shouldn’t be ruled out.

Balogun interesting Marseille

Writing in his latest column for CaughtOffside, Johnson details how Balogun is of interest to the French side.

And intriguingly, he suggests a decison on another Arsenal player, Nuno Tavares, could actually have a direct impact on the decision they make of Balogun.

“There’s been a lot of interest and a lot of business done between Arsenal and Marseille in recent times, with OM showing a particular interest in Folarin Balogun and his future this summer. It’s difficult for Marseille to make a move for him at this moment in time, however, as they don’t have a new coach in place yet,” Johnson said.

“Still, Marseille seem to have a particularly good relationship with Arsenal, as we saw with the loan deal for Nuno Tavares last summer, which itself followed the William Saliba loan and the Matteo Guendouzi loan that was turned permanent.

“In terms of Tavares’ future, I’m not sure Marseille saw enough from him to want to make that move permanent, but I think that’s a relationship those two clubs will want to continue, so it could have implications for Balogun, or maybe someone else.”

Arteta faces a huge call

This is a hard one for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. On one hand, they need another forward to help challenge and compete with Gabriel Jesus.

But on the other hand, they probably know Balogun is not quite good enough to get them to where they want to be.

Balogun has earned himself a move though in fairness. And if it is to a club like Marseille, then good luck to him.

For Arsenal and Arteta, it’s a case of coming to the best decision. Play him, or cash in and hope that who they sign instead can do the business.