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Folarin Balogun has opened up about his Arsenal exit for the first time since completing his €40million (£34million) move to AS Monaco.
The 22-year-old secured his move away from the Emirates Stadium late in the transfer window following months of speculation surrounding his future. Balogun spent the 2022/23 season in Ligue 1 last term, scoring 21 league goals, before making his senior international debut for the USMNT.
Balogun had interest from all around Europe with Inter Milan, Chelsea, West Ham, Tottenham, RB Leipzig and AC Milan all registering their interest in the striker. Having been used by Mikel Arteta at the start of pre-season, Balogun was left out of the Gunners' squad at the start of the season.
football.london understands that Arsenal have a 17.5% sell on clause inserted in the deal. The striker made his debut in the final gameweek ahead of this month's international break, coming off the bench in Monaco's 3-0 win over RC Lens.
And speaking whilst on international duty with the United States, Balogun has claimed the move to France wasn't a difficult decision. "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."
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He continued: "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."
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