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The young Gunners forward is out of contract for the summer and has been linked to Liverpool
Mikel Arteta says he is unsure whether Folarin Balogun’s agent wants the young forward to remain at Arsenal.
Talks have been ongoing for months between the north London club and Balogun representatives about a new contract, with the 19-year-old’s current contract expiring at the end of the season.
But discussions have yet to come to an agreement, raising the possibility of Arsenal losing the forward in the summer, with players like Liverpool, Sheffield United and Brentford saying they were interested.
Arteta is hopeful that an agreement can still be reached, but admits that he is not sure what exactly Balogun’s agent is thinking.
“It takes three parties to make a deal,” said the Arsenal manager. “Of course the club wants to make a deal, the coach wants to make a deal, the player wants to stay and I’m not sure about the agent.”
When asked if he thought that Balogun’s agent was stopping the progress of the talks, Arteta added: “I’m not saying stop, it’s that we have to reach an agreement with him.
“We are negotiating with an agent, with a player who wants to stay at the club and we have to reach an agreement.
“I tell them that we are doing everything possible to keep him here and hopefully the other party is doing the same and with the same interest, which is the interest of the player, which is to stay in the football club and be successful with us.”
Balogun, who is represented by the Elite Project Group, has scored twice in five senior appearances for Arsenal and is expected to take part on Saturday when the Gunners begin their FA Cup defense with a third-round clash against Newcastle.
“He’s fit and available,” Arteta said. “His progression and the use of the time he has spent with us has been incredibly good and he will continue to have opportunities while he is with us.”
Meanwhile, Arteta says he has reminded all his players of their responsibilities amid the surge in positive coronavirus cases in the Premier League.
The last two rounds of testing have generated 40 positive tests and several high-profile players were caught over the Christmas period breaking the strict Covid protocols that have been put in place.
“We have to be very aware of that and we have to be very strict,” Arteta said. “Players, like any public person, have to be more aware than anyone.
“There are a lot of people who don’t respect the rules. They are out there, they are not noticed, they can get away with it.
“We are luckier than anyone because we are still close to the players, we can still do our job and continue with our profession and we have to bear in mind that everything we do has other consequences and [how] other people act not.
“At the moment we cannot disappoint anyone. You know that people are sacrificing their lives to help society at this time and what we have to do is contribute, contribute, contribute and not give more problems, neither to the public, nor to the government, to make a decision that we do not want “.
Arteta added: “The doctor is very attentive and all the time trying to pressure. They educate us now with new rules, new protocols. There are many people around the place and sometimes you can go wrong. But there are certain things that we cannot allow to happen as well. “
