Arsenal First Team Manager Arteta Blames Nigerian Agent For Balogun Contract Standoff

Arsenal first team manager Mikel Arteta faced the cameras on Thursday morning ahead of his side's Emirates FA Cup meeting with Newcastle United and spoke about the contract situation of Folarin Balogun.

Balogun's contract with the Gunners runs out on June 30, 2020, meaning that he can negotiate a pre-contract with a foreign club this month.

Arsenal higher-ups are eager to keep hold of Balogun beyond this summer and the striker is on the same page as his current employer, however, the biggest stumbling block to the deal is the player's agent, Arteta has suggested.

The Hale End Academy product is represented by Nigerian agent Emeka Obasi who also looks after Super Eagles stars Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Joe Aribo and Josh Maja.

"You need three parties to make a deal. For sure, the club wants to make a deal, the manager wants to make a deal, the player wants to stay and I'm not sure about the agent," Arteta was quoted as saying by arsenal.com.
 
"No, I'm not saying he's stopping [the deal]. I'm saying that we need to find an agreement with him.

"We are negotiating with an agent, with a player that wants to stay at the club and we need to find an agreement.
 
"I'm telling you that we are doing everything we can to keep him here and hopefully from the other part they are doing the same and they defend the same interests, which is the players' interest, which is to stay at the football club and be successful with us."

The 19-year-old Balogun joined Arsenal at U8 level and has scored two goals from five appearances since making his first team debut in October 2020.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel