‘Easy decision’ - Player Arsenal sold this summer opens up on exit process

Former Arsenal star Folarin Balogun has explained his summer departure.

The 22-year-old shone during a loan spell with Reims last season, scoring 21 goals in 37 league games, but upon returning to Arsenal, he quickly realised that his form elsewhere wouldn’t help him in his bid for first-team opportunities. As a result, the promising American decided, along with the club, that he needed to move on to continue his career, and indeed his development.

Balogun joined AS Monaco on a deal worth around £34million, with add-ons and a sell-on fee included in the deal.

The striker is now on international duty with the USA, and during his trip home, has discussed the reasoning behind his Arsenal exit.

“In the end when Monaco were interested it was, really, an easy decision for me,” he told Offside with Taylor Twellman. “I told my agent: ‘This is the only place I wanted to go.’ And luckily for me, he made it happen.”

Asked why he made the move away from Arsenal, Balogun added: “I feel like, for me, it was important to obviously go to a side that’s competing to win stuff. They’re a really big team in the French league. And at the same time I want to play games.

“I want to be able to prove myself, and prove to people around that I’m capable of playing and being the main striker for a team.”

Despite Balogun’s fine form on loan last season, Mikel Arteta decided to go with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as his forward options, while Kai Havertz can also play in the striker role.