Folarin Balogun's short Arsenal career seems to be coming to an end as the Hale End graduate has been linked multiple times with a move away from The Emirates.
A week ago, The Athletic reported that Balogun looks to be on the verge of an Arsenal exit. Now, multiple outlets including The Express and Football Insider claim that the 19 year old is "close" to signing a pre-contract agreement with German club RB Leipzig.
Die Roten Bullen are a club renowned for developing young prospects, and making them into world-class products. The Bundesliga itself has been a popular destination for British talents, looking to gain experience.
The likes of Jadon Sancho, Ryan Sessegnon & Reece Oxford are all currently applying their trade in Germany and it seems like the Gunners striker will follow suit.
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All clues point to the door
Balogun's departure has mostly sparked outrage from Arsenal fans despite him only playing 74 professional minutes for the club. Mikel Arteta is yet to start Folarin in the Premier League.
Furthermore, Balogun was left out of Arteta's FA Cup side last Saturday even though frequent loanee Callum Chambers managed to get a spot on the bench over him.
Arteta has also spoken about the transfer speculation and told reporters in press conference "The club wants to make a deal, the player wants to stay and I'm not sure about the agent."
This increasingly suggests that Arsenal are not interested in giving Balogun a new contract.
RB Leipzig are in need of attacking reinforcements after Czech forward Patrick Schick's loan deal from Roma expired at the end of last season.
Arsenal have publicly expressed their desire to keep Eddie Nketiah, despite West Ham keeping tabs on the 21-year old as a replacement for Sebastian Haller, who left the Hammers last week for Ajax Amsterdam. This adds to the speculation that Nketiah is ahead of Balogun in the queue for minutes this season.