West Ham have received a major double boost over their Arsenal deal hopes as Mikel Arteta goes coy and giants call off move for Folarin Balogun.
West Ham have been heavily linked with a move for Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun in recent months.
According to the likes of Football.London, West Ham have been showing genuine interest in bringing talented Gunners ace Balogun to the London Stadium from Arsenal.
The trouble for David Moyes is that a host of other clubs have been linked with serious interest in the Brooklyn-born star too.
The 22-year-old US international spent last season on loan under West Ham fan – and alleged former managerial target – Will Still at Reims – scoring 22 goals in 39 appearances.
West Ham get major double boost over Arsenal deal hopes as Mikel Arteta goes coy and giants call off move for Folarin Balogun
With the futures of Michail Antonio and Gianluca Scamacca uncertain, West Ham have been linked with a host of strikers in the summer transfer window.
Moyes missed out on Viktor Gyokeres to Sporting and has a longstanding interest in Chelsea’s Armando Broja.
But with Balogun slipping further down the Arsenal pecking order due to the arrival of Kai Havertz and having made it clear he does not want to go out on another loan, West Ham have been alerted to his availability.
We reported on Hammers News yesterday that Inter Milan had joined West Ham in the pursuit of Balogun.
And we highlighted that there was some good news for Moyes in that Inter were said to be baulking at Arsenal’s reported valuation – which varies between £35-50m depending on which source you believe.
Now West Ham have received a major double boost over their Arsenal deal hopes as Mikel Arteta goes coy and the giants call off a move for Balogun.
Arteta’s unconvincing Balogun response suggests striker is available as Inter pull out
Gunners boss Arteta was asked about Balogun’s future when facing the press during Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the US.
And he was completely non-committal and made it clear a decision will be taken soon over what is best. Arteta said he is giving the alleged West Ham target a chance to impress during pre-season but stopped short of saying whether he had or not.
“We want to see him, we want to experience him in the next few games,” Arteta said.
“He played the last game against Nurnberg and he will do again in the next few games.
“Then we will make the best decision.”
In a second big boost for the Hammers, Inter Milan have called off a move for Balogun today.
Corriere della Sera reports today that Inter boss Simone Inzaghi wants a more experienced striker than Balogun.
And as a result, Inter have now pulled out of the tussle with West Ham to move for Alvaro Morata instead.
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