Folarin Balogun, Bernd Leno, and Thomas Partey were reportedly all set to miss out on Arsenal’s tour of the United States but they’ve all travelled.
The Times reported that Folarin Balogun, Bernd Leno, and Thomas Partey would all be omitted from Arsenal’s pre-season tour, with the squad heading across the Atlantic today.
A few hours later, Arsenal announced their squad and not only was Leno in it, so were Partey and Balogun.
Arsenal's travelling squad to the US – Leno makes the trip, as does Partey. pic.twitter.com/TDnA1FlNHN
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) July 13, 2022
In Leno’s case, the reasoning for leaving him behind seemed obvious. The goalkeeper is close to a £10m move to Fulham, as we’ve read in plenty of other articles this week.
Balogun’s absence would have been more surprising, as there are no strong links on a potential destination for him.
There was some misguided speculation that Balogun could be absent due to his vaccination status, but the striker was in New York just last month.
The Times suggested Balogun could leave on loan, and he was expected to stay in London to negotiate a move. Evidently that’s not the case.
As mentioned above, newly-promoted Fulham are growing in confidence they can seal a £10m deal for Arsenal goalkeeper Leno.
Talks are reportedly advancing, and there’s growing belief a deal will be done.
Florian Plettenberg reports for Sky Sport Germany that an agreement for his transfer is possible this week.
The player has already agreed personal terms with Fulham on a three-year deal with an option for a fourth.
