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Emmanuel Petit believes Arsenal will sell Folarin Balogun in the summer transfer window as they already have two strikers.
Under Will Still’s stewardship at Reims, Balogun has been in top form for Ligue 1, contributing 18 goals and two assists in 30 league games.
This has seen a number of clubs across Europe sit up and take notice of the talented 21-year-old, while Arsenal are also closely monitoring his progress.
There were reports that the New York City-born striker could leave the Emirates Stadium in the summer with Arsenal valuing him at £50m.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said in late March that “many, many clubs” are interested in Balogun with the Bundesliga RB Leipzig one of the nominated teams.
And ex-Arsenal midfielder Petit believes Balogun will be sold with Mikel Arteta already able to call Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah.
Petit said Legal sportsbooks: “I don’t know if they will continue with the strikers they have. They have Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus.
“Florian Balogun I think it will be put on the market to be sold. There are many clubs in France, and not only in France, that are very interested in him.»
Arteta and technical director Edu have done very well with their recruitment in recent transfer windows and will be looking to improve their squad again in the summer.
And Petit believes they still need «at least two players» to compliment what they already have if they are to challenge for the title again next season.
Petit added: “In midfield I think they need to add at least two players. Someone who can play [Martin] Odegaard’s position. We have [Emile] Smith-Rowe, but he hasn’t played much in recent months.
“Also a central defender. When you look at the big teams in Europe, they have four strong defenders to choose from. You need to have some competition for players to earn their spot.
“They have two right-backs but [Takehiro] Tomiyasu has been hurt for so long. Ben White was great, but you can’t expect players not to get injured during the season.
“[Gabriel] Martinelli was formidable and [Bukayo] Saka too, but you can feel, especially with Saka, that he’s been tired recently. [Leandro] Trossard can play right wing or left wing, but you probably need an extra player who can play on the wings.»
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