Sheffield United are on the hunt for a striker, and this makes sense as Lys Mousset is currently injured and has an unknown return date, whilst the Blades had nine shots in their first game of the season, but were not able to score and lost 2-0 to Wolves.
According to The Daily Mail, fellow Premier League side Arsenal have turned down an offer from the Blades for their young striker Folarin Balogun.
United offered £3m plus add-ons for the 19 year-old academy prospect, but the Gunners feel like they can get a lot more for the player as they want a deal which is around £15 million if you include both the initial fee and bonuses.
Chris Wilder’s side are apparently shocked by the valuation of the player, and it seems like he is highly-rated by the Gunners as they also turned down a £5 million offer from Brentford in January for Balogun, who has also attracted interest from Southampton, Brighton and AC Milan.
Wilder has then been speaking to the press following this rumour and provided an update, via Andy Giddings, in which confirmed his interest in Balogun, as he said: ‘We made an enquiry regarding the young man at Arsenal. That’s been left with the CEO at our club and at Arsenal.’
The player only has one year left on his contract, which makes the price-tag that Arsenal have set look like a crazy amount, so it makes sense why the Blades are shocked. However a cryptic tweet from the youngster might suggest he is due to sign another contract at the club. This tweet was similar to the one their captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did before signing a new deal.
This type of signing would have been a good one for the Blades if they could have got him for cheaper as he is a young prospect and he could have gained a lot from experienced forwards David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp, and with them being in their 30’s, Balogun could have been seen as the future replacement for the two.
The player has a very good goal scoring tally for the youth sides at the Gunners, as he has managed 51 goals in 72 appearances, per Transfermarkt, but with him currently unproven at a senior level as he has not played a game for the first team yet, Wilder cannot afford to spend so much money on such a player, no matter the potential he has and especially in the current climate due to recent events.
Perhaps the club could look into a loan-to-buy deal to see whether he can succeed at Bramall Lane, but for now it looks like a sensible decision to not pursue to forward any further for the time being.
Blades fans, what are your thoughts on this news? Let us know down below!
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