The Red Devils are desperate to add a striker to their squad ahead of the new Premier League season and even had an Arsenal forward on their list of potential recruits for Erik ten Hag
Manchester United ‘considered’ a move for Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun in an effort to end the club’s striker woes.
A new forward has been high up on Erik ten Hag’s shopping list throughout the summer. Big-name options including Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen were initially linked with moves to Old Trafford but moves for the pair are deemed as too expensive.
It appears that the Red Devils’ search for a new striker is set to end sooner rather than later with an agreement for Atalanta forward Rasmus Hojlund drawing close. However, it appears that a surprise option emerged before that.
According to The Independent, Arsenal academy graduate Folarin Balogun was considered as a possible target. The American international is fresh off the back of a sensational season in Ligue 1 with Reims.
He scored 22 goals in 39 games on loan in France last term. Despite their interest, United very quickly moved on.
Arsenal initially slapped a £50m asking price on Balogun, whilst the Red Devils deemed a deal with their Premier League rivals as somewhat unrealistic. That then triggered them into a move for Hojlund, who is also attracting interest from French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Balogun has played a role for Arsenal in pre-season but Mikel Arteta refused to rule out that he could move on from the Emirates Stadium in the near future. The Arsenal boss said: “Well this is what he has been doing and that’s why we gave him the minutes that he deserves to show what he can do. He’s just staying here with us at the moment and we will see what happens.”
Despite United not having an interest in Balogun any more, he could still leave Arsenal. Italian giants Inter Milan are eyeing him as a potential replacement for on-loan Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku.
The Serie A side have lodged their opening bid for the striker, thought to be worth in the region of £25m with an additional £5m in add-ons. However, that was very quickly rejected by Arsenal who want to receive far more for the academy graduate.
Ironically, Inter have plenty to spend throughout the summer transfer window having sold goalkeeper Andre Onana to Man United for £47m. Balogun, 22, has two years remaining on his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
He has made ten appearances for the Arsenal senior side throughout his career so far, scoring twice. He has recently been struggling with a foot injury and has been training on his own in an effort to recover.
Balogun also missed pre-season clashes against Manchester United and Barcelona. The Gunners face Monaco in their final pre-season clash before the Community Shield showdown with Manchester City.
