I don't think the names are particularly unreasonable (tho I do think the wrong EPL team relying on him to be their main goal scorer could be a big mistake.) I was just noting that Balo was getting a whole lot more ink in the footie press post WC - which is not a shock, he scored some goals - and it seemed to me to be getting out of proportion to his club production over the past few years which as been pretty good, but not great. He may be rounding into a higher level of form and in the right set up there's no doubt in my mind he can contribute, but it seemed to me that Balo was a bit under the radar before the WC and might be a bit over-rated (in the public/press view) now. Not some huge deal, and not completely unexpected after the WC but from a casual read it felt like he was getting more love than some of the other WC goalscorers.
How many of those other goal scorers scored golazos with different feet in the same game? More seriously, I agree with the gist of this. He seems like a smart dude, so I expect he'll make a smart choice. Of course, for him (rather than for us) the smart choice may be to take the biggest pile of money he can. I'm glad he seems to not have been tarred personally by the awful shenanigans around his suspension. He's a class act, and I'm glad he and the Belgian coach handled it so well and so publicly.
Agree - I think part of upping his profile is he just seems like a great dude with a kilowatt smile. I think it will be interesting to see what happens with his transfer journey now. Just has gone to Swansea (to pick a lesser-known guy who got some good juice out of the WC.) apparently. Manzambi I saw was also going to championship - although in a Swiss-record transfer to AV if the headline I saw was accurate. Obviously many of the big names who also scored the same number of goals are already at big clubs. Be interesting to see what route Balo and his advisors pick.
It's like auction fever in fine art: if the buyers need to buy a new product, the experts' valuations count for nothing. If they don't need to buy, they may count for something or maybe even nothing in the opposite direction. It depends on who needs a striker, whether Flo is the kind they need and whether he fancies them as a destination.
With, I don't often disagree with @dark knight but I think he's being too categorical on this one. It depends on whether Alonso changes how Chelsea not just play, but how they operate or whether they change how he operates. It could go either way, but the failures Boehly & co. have racked up since taking over have to have taught them something about how football works and they didn't get that rich by being dumb repeatedly. It's more likely to be a better destination than he thinks. A good destination is another matter.
I just think there are a long list of decent players going to big clubs that throw a lot of money around and then struggling to get on the field. If Alonso specifically wants him and intends to use him, that's one thing that might mitigate the effect. I'd personally rather he go to a club like Fulham which might be more his level and establishing himself there first - but obviously he's gotta go where he feels challenged for the right price.
It depends on the quality and productivity of the midfileld. If Juve have that sorted, he could be guy who - to continue the graveyard them - resurrects them from the grave. Wonder how @usnroach sees it.
One thing about Balo's game in McD's league is he gets a good number of chances with balls down the seam as he's playing off the shoulder of a CD in a high line. Balo is fast and comfortable taking the ball on a straight sprint. He can also poach, but I do wish he'd get better in tight spaces/pack D and improve his "playmaking striker" skills before going to England, but maybe he needs to go there to get them sharp. Watching the world cup and seeing how well some of the better CF/9's can drop and playmake you see how important that skill is to a lot of teams in the modern game.
I've always been high on Balogun, especially in comparison to the rest of our CFs. There is a little scar tissue built up from Jonathan Davids failed season after moving from the same league. He outplayed Balogun every single year. Between Openda, David, and Vlahovic in 25/26, they under-performed their xG. David 8g on 14.8 xG. Openda 2g on 4.5 xG. Vlahovic 10g on 8.7 xG. Juventus needs a killer again. When they were at their best, they had a killer putting the ball away. Vlahovic was supposed to be that guy, wasn't consistent. David had expectations after what he did at Lille (looking back at the lack of competitors should be obvious) but didn't work out. I really like Baloguns game and think it would translate pretty well and he seems to have such a great head on his shoulders. But...I don't know if he would be able to withstand the pressure that comes with being the #9 at Juventus. What was experienced with the whole red card and backlash from it (not his fault at all) is what would be on him all the time at Juventus. Up to 50m on him leaves a lot of questions in a time when Juventus management cannot miss. If Juve had a strong GK and healthy Vlahovic, they finish 2nd last year. I would rather take Balogun at 40-43m (50m no thanks) compared to most of the other options that are currently being rumored. Sorloth (30) at 40m Pellegrino (25) at 25-30m Vlahovic (26) Free but wants wants 7m (net) and highest paid over Yildiz (due to optics for our talisman). If he was to accept 6m salary and not some crazy bonuses, he would be my choice. The only player that I would prefer at the numbers being discussed is Kolo Muani (27). He already proved that he can be productive at Juventus (6 month loan 11 goals 2 assists) and he really wants to be at the club.
🚨EXCLUSIVE⚡️: PSG make opening contact with AS Monaco for Folarin Balogun. Monaco want €50m for the 25yo; #PSG yet to make an offer. Player side contacts are advanced with a broad terms agreement in place. #AFC retain 17.5% sell-on clause. https://t.co/AkKbhrJe6H— The Article (@articlexcl) July 30, 2026
I think there’s also an outside chance Barcelona come in for him. No facts, beyond Barca’s current striker situation and Balogun’s fit for their system. Just a hunch.
Two clubs in the final stages of talks for Flo. One is a PL team. Sounds like an announcement is fairly imminent. Rumored to be Tottenham or Aston Villa. No hints at who the other team is.
Both are in the hunt for a striker and Spurs in particular are reported to be offering serious $$. The question is whether it's a good location for Flo. FWIW I'd prefer Villa. Emery's position is a lot more stable there and to say he's more a more stable person than de Zerbi is an understatement. Plus, Villa have CL ball
Any information from reputable sources? I haven't seen anything higher tier. Season start is getting closer and the longer it waits, the less time for adaption and a slower start is not great for confidence. Especially when moving to a bigger club with high expectations.
Not necessarily. It's only 2.5 hours from London by car so a lot of players commute from London and if a guy wants to pop down to London on his day off, it's not exactly challenging And Birmingham is a pretty prosperous area with some very leafy suburbs of the kind that footballers prefer and the shopping is pretty good too.
Reportedly Tottenham is the PL team. https://www.goal.com/en-ng/lists/to...r60-million-transfer-deal/bltbb626f43f74bba2c
I’ve thought about this too given Alvarez isn’t seemingly happening, Torres is on his way to PSG, they need a 9, and there aren’t a ton of obvious options out there who are available and at the right price. But we’ll see.
Things will start moving very, very quickly starting on the 28th. UEFA qualifying will have been finalised and the windows will start closing on the 31st and will close pretty quickly after that. All the Top 5 close on the 1st and IIRC all the Tier 2 leagues are closed by the 5th
Barcelona already floating Luis Suarez from Sporting as an alternative though Sporting seems to indicate they won’t sell for anything less than the release clause.