Summary Arsenal have rejected Monaco's bid for Folarin Balogun and are sticking to their £50m valuation of the young striker. Balogun is unlikely to get regular playing time at Arsenal and is looking for a new permanent home. Inter Milan is expected to make another attempt to sign Balogun, but Arsenal may need to lower their asking price for a deal to happen.

Arsenal have rejected a bid from Monaco for Folarin Balogun and are refusing to compromise on their £50m valuation of the young striker, according to Sky Sports' Dharmesh Sheth.

Is Balogun leaving Arsenal?

Having enjoyed a prolific loan spell at Ligue 1 side Stade Reims last season, Balogun is now ready to find his new permanent home.

While the 22-year-old forward would undoubtedly relish the chance to be a starting striker for Arsenal, he will have to look elsewhere for regular minutes as he sits behind Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah and new acquisition Kai Havertz in the pecking order.

His impressive campaign in France means that his value has skyrocketed from this time last season, with Arsenal having slapped an eye-watering £50m price tag on the United States international.

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A number of clubs have been circling the youngster including the likes of Inter, West Ham United and Crystal Palace, but it is Monaco that have seen a bid rejected according to Sheth.

Inter are expected to come back in for Balogun following Gianluca Scamacca's decision to choose Atalanta over the Nerazzurri, but Sheth suggests Arsenal are holding firm on their valuation of their centre-forward.

Speaking on Sky Sports (via Football Daily), Sheth stated: "We're told that Monaco have bid for Folarin Balogun. It was a written offer and it has been rejected by Arsenal.

"Arsenal are not budging at the moment on their valuation of around £50m for Folarin Balogun. He's in the final two years of his contract, but he wants to make that move to get regular first-team football. What we do expect to happen now though is Inter Milan to really push to sign him.

"They were in for Lukaku but he started talking to Juventus, so they said 'thanks but no thanks'. They went in for Balogun again but couldn't agree a fee with Arsenal, so they switched their attention to Gianluca Scamacca. [They] thought they were going to get that deal done, Atalanta came in, they couldn't match the conditions that Atalanta were offering West Ham United, so as we have been mentioning Scamacca is now an Atalanta player.

"So, Inter Milan are refocusing their attention back on to Folarin Balogun. For this deal to be done though, it looks like Arsenal may just need to relax that £50m asking price."

The Gunners' steep asking price is making a deal between Arsenal and Balogun's suitors near impossible as few clubs are capable of splashing that kind of money on a fairly inexperienced young attacker.

Arsenal have reportedly told Balogun to find another club quickly, but as Sheth suggests, they may need to be willing to compromise on their large valuation before that can happen.

Has Balogun played for Arsenal?

Despite it being Balogun's first season of consistent first-team senior football, the two-cap United States forward took no time adjusting to life at the top.

Balogun managed 21 goals and three assists with Reims in Ligue 1 last season, having previously only featured in a limited capacity at Arsenal and Middlesbrough.

In fact, Balogun has only featured ten times for Arsenal's first team, only two of which came in the Premier League. The striker has scored twice for the Gunners, both goals coming in the Europa League during the 2020/21 season against Molde and Dundalk.

The fact that Balogun, who was hailed by Mikel Arteta as "special", only has one season of consistent top-flight football under his belt is perhaps one of the reasons clubs are reluctant to spend big on the forward.