Balogun one of FIVE players Arsenal club legend wants sold

Stuart Telford

• 11 Jul 2023 14:52 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal have slapped a £50 million price tag on Folarin Balogun, but club legend Alan Smith thinks the academy graduate is one of just five players the Gunners should cash in on this summer.

Arsenal's transfer spending will pass the £200m mark this summer once moves for Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber - from Chelsea, West Ham and Ajax respectively - are completed.

They have recouped more than £20m of that outlay with the sale of Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen, and another four after Pablo Mari made his loan to Monza permanent, but more outgoings are expected.

READ: Arsenal transfer list £50m academy star

Balogun is perhaps the most in-demand of the available players. The academy graduate scored 21 goals in 37 Ligue 1 games on loan at Reims last season, and it is understood Arsenal want £50m for the recent USMNT cap, with Chelsea among those circling.

Balogun's Arsenal path blocked

"It's hard because he's a few notches down the pecking order now, especially with Havertz coming into the squad," Smith, an English champion with Arsenal in 1989 and 1991, told Gambling Zone.

"I think the management probably see [Eddie] Nketiah being further ahead of him at the moment… He's a valuable player who can probably fetch £30 million plus after the season he had in France.

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal’s desperate measures to sell €80m flop Pepe

But Smith wouldn't stop there when it comes to thinning out the squad, with the club's record signing Nicolas Pepe, as well as Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga also in the firing line as far as he's concerned.

"Nicolas Pepe… was bought for far too much money, and it'd be great to recoup some of that because I don't think Arteta is a massive fan… players like Tavares and Lokonga, promising youngsters, could move on… Rob Holding has been linked with a move away. There's not much potential for him to get into the team now."