Arsenal To Re-Sign Striker Tagged By Juventus As 'Cristiano Ronaldo Successor'

An in-demand prolific striker is set to join Arsenal’s senior team.

After impressing in the English Premier League 2, Arsenal Under-23 striker Folarin Balogun is all set to sign a new four-year deal with the Gunners, The Athletic reported.

The report added that Arsenal managed to fend off Balogun’s suitor, having rejected a £5 million bid from Brentford last January as well as some offers from overseas.

While it is highly likely that Balogun will remain a Gunner for a couple more years, it has been said that a promising opportunity is still left hanging in the air.

Apparently, Serie A's Juventus has identified Balogun as Cristiano Ronaldo’s successor, per Spanish publication Don Balon.

According to the report, Juve is considering a transfer swoop for Balogun to become an understudy for Ronaldo.

The report also noted that the Italian outfit has been yearning to bring in a scoring partner for the Portuguese marksman.

However, Arsenal seems all-in on the 19-year-old, who had earlier impressed in the Europa League group stage matches, having scored twice in five appearances as a substitute.

This season alone, Balogun has already registered 10 goals and three assists to his name in 20 games across all competitions.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has always been optimistic about making Balogun stay at the Emirates Stadium.

According to Arteta, “it is important” to hone the future generation from the inside--and even Arsenal's top brass is well aware of it.

"I am pretty positive. Every time I spoke to [Balogun] him, he mentions that he’s determined to stay,” Arteta said last month.

“We had some really positive conversations with his agent as well and [Arsenal technical director] Edu is in charge of that,” the Gunner boss added. “He’s been spending a lot of time and energy to make that deal happen because it’s important for us to keep our talent in the house, and what we can guarantee is that we’re doing everything we can to keep him.”

With Balogun entering the scene, the Gunners are expected to offload a couple of players.

It is believed that Balogun's contract extension could see veteran forward Alexandre Lacazette, whose contract is set to expire in 2022, leaving the club sooner rather than later, Football.london reported.

The outlet also named Eddie Nketiah as one of the possible departees after finding his first-team opportunities limited this season.