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Folarin Balogun: Balogone

Is he better than Lacazette?


  • Total voters
    113

Mrs Bergkamp

Double Dusted
Dusted 🔻
Arteta has sounded quite similar in talking about Balogun to the way he did about pre contract Auba. We certainly need this profile of player. I don't want to drop a penny on Odsonne if this guy can provide an attacking option.
 

Tir Na Nog

Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes

Country: Ireland
The problem here is we'd be giving him that sort of money when he's done relatively little here. You could argue Eddie would've been more deserving of that sort of contract this time last year but he's really gone off the boil since then and has gone from an almost rotation option and at times a guy who started successive games to a bit part player who rarely even comes off the bench anymore.

We'd be banking on Balogun based on his PL2 reputation alone and hoping that he'd translate that to senior football. And it doesn't matter how talented a player is there's no guarantees.
 

dashsnow17

Doesn’t Rate Any Of Our Attackers
Trusted ⭐
The problem here is we'd be giving him that sort of money when he's done relatively little here. You could argue Eddie would've been more deserving of that sort of contract this time last year but he's really gone off the boil since then and has gone from an almost rotation option and at times a guy who started successive games to a bit part player who rarely even comes off the bench anymore.

We'd be banking on Balogun based on his PL2 reputation alone and hoping that he'd translate that to senior football. And it doesn't matter how talented a player is there's no guarantees.

It's the sort of wage you'd give to someone like Edouard if you were to buy him. Considering Balogun has done absolutely nothing compared to Edouard it's a big gamble. Like are you gonna just not buy a striker and promote Balogun to replace Lacazette? Insanely big gamble.
 

DanDare

Emoji Merchant and Believer-In-Chief
Trusted ⭐

Player:Saliba
It's the sort of wage you'd give to someone like Edouard if you were to buy him. Considering Balogun has done absolutely nothing compared to Edouard it's a big gamble. Like are you gonna just not buy a striker and promote Balogun to replace Lacazette? Insanely big gamble.

Good luck agreeing a contract for £40k a week with a player like Edouard
 

dka1

100% Dark Chocolate
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
The problem here is we'd be giving him that sort of money when he's done relatively little here. You could argue Eddie would've been more deserving of that sort of contract this time last year but he's really gone off the boil since then and has gone from an almost rotation option and at times a guy who started successive games to a bit part player who rarely even comes off the bench anymore.

We'd be banking on Balogun based on his PL2 reputation alone and hoping that he'd translate that to senior football. And it doesn't matter how talented a player is there's no guarantees.

Yeah....I mean I really like Balogun (don't question the irrationality of it) but 40k? Fam are you skunked...as the kids say.

*Sigh*....I do want him to stay too but I don't think it's going to happen with those demands. I do wish he got more opportunities this season as atleast we could judge better whether it'd be worth it.

I'm also worried we'll regret it if he goes, I'm almost convinced of it. But if he stays at 40k and becomes like an Afobe level striker? The club will will catch pelters for it.

Good luck agreeing a contract for £40k a week with a player like Edouard

Hmm maybe 40k for Edouard is hyperbole but 40k is around the amount I'd be offering someone like ESR if we were offering him a contract or even Saka (when we were negotiating last year). Basically young players that have proved they are comfortable at this level.
 

Melquiades

Active Member
As much as at seems ridiculous to pay him 40k/week after a few sub appearances ... in a world where Rhian Brewster is worth 23.5m, it also seems like very poor business to let a young player of this quality walk for nothing because you don't want to pay him 2m/year in wages.

Like, even in the worst-case scenario where he can't crack the first team squad and he goes to the Bundesliga or Championship on loan for next season, we could still sell him for 10x what we paid him in wages in the summer of 2022.
 

dka1

100% Dark Chocolate
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
As much as at seems ridiculous to pay him 40k/week after a few sub appearances ... in a world where Rhian Brewster is worth 23.5m, it also seems like very poor business to let a young player of this quality walk for nothing because you don't want to pay him 2m/year in wages.

Like, even in the worst-case scenario where he can't crack the first team squad and he goes to the Bundesliga or Championship on loan for next season, we could still sell him for 10x what we paid him in wages in the summer of 2022.

Fair points, I do want him to stay too......

Let's see what happens but I'm not holding my breath when it comes to this club and monies lol.
 

Rex Stone

Long live the fighters
Trusted ⭐

Country: Wales
As much as at seems ridiculous to pay him 40k/week after a few sub appearances ... in a world where Rhian Brewster is worth 23.5m, it also seems like very poor business to let a young player of this quality walk for nothing because you don't want to pay him 2m/year in wages.

Like, even in the worst-case scenario where he can't crack the first team squad and he goes to the Bundesliga or Championship on loan for next season, we could still sell him for 10x what we paid him in wages in the summer of 2022.

Yeah for 6M over the course of a contract it’s basically a punt on a youngster who the club should have a bit more inside knowledge about than a transfer target.
 

Melquiades

Active Member
Fair points, I do want him to stay too......

Let's see what happens but I'm not holding my breath when it comes to this club and monies lol.

I'm not either. My gut feeling for a couple months has been that he's gone.

But this is a player I rate really, really highly and I'd be absolutely gutted to see him leave for nothing. And it just seems like bad business to let it happen.
 

Melquiades

Active Member
Yeah for 6M over the course of a contract it’s basically a punt on a youngster who the club should have a bit more inside knowledge about than a transfer target.

It's weird how perception differs with the type of transaction, even if the money is the same.

If we paid 6m for him from Barcelona's academy, people would be absolutely over the moon about an incredibly good buy.

But talk about spending 6m on wages over the next 3 years with zero transfer fee, and it seems like most feel that that's astronomical.
 

Penn_

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
Saka was rewarded with that amount after actually doing something. Balogun‘s not getting it after a few insta posts.
 

Rex Stone

Long live the fighters
Trusted ⭐

Country: Wales
Saka was rewarded with that amount after actually doing something. Balogun‘s not getting it after a few insta posts.

Saka’s getting his bag though in the summer I’d reckon.

He shouldn’t be judged as the standard because we’re getting 100k worth of production for a fraction of that price.

6M is a drop in the ocean when it comes to these youngsters. 40k a week doesn’t sound great but total outlay isn’t that bad.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Saka’s getting his bag though in the summer I’d reckon.

He shouldn’t be judged as the standard because we’re getting 100k worth of production for a fraction of that price.

6M is a drop in the ocean when it comes to these youngsters. 40k a week doesn’t sound great but total outlay isn’t that bad.
Honestly, I think it could save us money in the long run. Balogun has all the tools and we will actually profit because we'll be forced to cash in on Laca and Eddie (sadly). I'm very dubious about the CF market - there's not a lot of people I like. Edouard is good but I'm not completely convinced. I've also long believed the CF situation could easily be dealt with in house as we have many young CF talents - Balogun being arguably the most exciting one. If we really want to keep him. we have to give him the pathway.
 

EmeryCouldnt

Established Member
Honestly, I think it could save us money in the long run. Balogun has all the tools and we will actually profit because we'll be forced to cash in on Laca and Eddie (sadly). I'm very dubious about the CF market - there's not a lot of people I like. Edouard is good but I'm not completely convinced. I've also long believed the CF situation could easily be dealt with in house as we have many young CF talents - Balogun being arguably the most exciting one. If we really want to keep him. we have to give him the pathway.

It's also not super unlikely for him to be a 20 million dollar striker in 3 years.... Hell, even a 3 million fee would recoup the cost. Just getting premier league experience will increase his price tag.
 

gunner4lyfe

Established Member
40k is a lot of money for someone who hasn't done a lot. I can understand why the club are hesitant. The last thing we want is another player who we can't get rid of because of the high wages. It's a tricky situation and I won't complain either way it ends up. My question though is whether or not any other clubs will be offering him that much.
 

RunTheTrap

Kai Havertz Offense League
As much as at seems ridiculous to pay him 40k/week after a few sub appearances ... in a world where Rhian Brewster is worth 23.5m, it also seems like very poor business to let a young player of this quality walk for nothing because you don't want to pay him 2m/year in wages.

Like, even in the worst-case scenario where he can't crack the first team squad and he goes to the Bundesliga or Championship on loan for next season, we could still sell him for 10x what we paid him in wages in the summer of 2022.
I think it’s more to do with the precedent it sets. You have a kid that has done nothing that demands £40k a month while our potential player of the season and at times ‘saviour’ is on £30k (according to some sources). How do you go into negotiations with Saka like this when his mate is earning more because of hype alone? It also gets a bit sticky when you consider a lot of our Hale End boys have the same agent. Personally, I feel like a lot of Arsenal fans are suffering from PTSD when it comes to our youngsters that we’re even justifying messing with our wage structure to keep one guy happy. We messed up big time with Gnabry but apart from him it’s not that deep. I mean yeah you could mention Bennacer, Malen, etc but they’re not world class right now. This Balogun dilemma has fans going crazy on a player I’m sure most haven’t watched a full u23 game to really assess.
 

EmeryCouldnt

Established Member
I think it’s more to do with the precedent it sets. You have a kid that has done nothing that demands £40k a month while our potential player of the season and at times ‘saviour’ is on £30k (according to some sources). How do you go into negotiations with Saka like this when his mate is earning more because of hype alone? It also gets a bit sticky when you consider a lot of our Hale End boys have the same agent. Personally, I feel like a lot of Arsenal fans are suffering from PTSD when it comes to our youngsters that we’re even justifying messing with our wage structure to keep one guy happy. We messed up big time with Gnabry but apart from him it’s not that deep. I mean yeah you could mention Bennacer, Malen, etc but they’re not world class right now. This Balogun dilemma has fans going crazy on a player I’m sure most haven’t watched a full u23 game to really assess.

Our wage structure has been very dumb at times. You pay based on merit, not based on age. That mostly does still happen, really, but sometimes a senior player gets on those high wages just for being a senior player and those are the players that stick around as dead wood.
 
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