Arsenal suffer HAMMER blow in €40m deal

Cameron Smith

1 Aug 2023 06:52 BST
3 min read

Arsenal look set to miss out on a huge transfer windfall following reports that Inter Milan have ended their pursuit of Folarin Balogun to turn their attention to West Ham United’s Gianluca Scamacca.

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Balogun, 21, is expected to leave the Gunners this summer due to the existing presence of Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah, and the summer arrival of Kai Havertz.

It’s understood that the Hale End academy graduate wants to leave the club this window in search of regular game time, and Inter were deemed to be his most likely destination.

MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

The Nerazzurri will sign a new striker this summer after losing Edin Dzeko to Fenerbahce and following the end of Romelu Lukaku’s season-long loan.

The Belgian international was deemed to be the most likely player to join Inter permanently, but the San Siro club pulled out of talks with Chelsea after Lukaku started negotiating with Juventus. It now appears as though Lukaku could well be on his way to Turin in a player-plus-cash swap deal with Dusan Vlahovic.

That paved the way for Balogun to join Inter, with the club’s chiefs ruling out a move for Alvaro Morata and narrowing their search down to the USMNT star and Udinese forward Beto.

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However, Fabrizio Romano has now reported that Inter have ended negotiations with Balogun after Arsenal refused to lower their asking price.

Most Italian media have reported that Arsenal want €40 million for Balogun, however Sky Sports UK believe the Gunners’ asking price is as high as €60m, which seems to have priced Balogun out of a summer move.

© ProShots - Folarin Balogun (left) with Thierry Henry (right)

Inter target Scamacca

After ending their Balogun search, Inter are now pursuing West Ham striker Scamacca and have seen a €25m bid rejected by the Hammers.

The Italian struggled in the Premier League last season and lost his place in the starting XI to Michail Antonio before suffering a knee injury that saw him miss 22 games in the second-half of the campaign.

Scamacca scored just three league goals for West Ham last term after netting 16 Serie A strikes the season prior.