Folarin Balogun can give Arteta perfect reason to reject $65m Arsenal transfer

Arsenal transfer news: Folarin Balogun faces an intense couple of weeks with the Gunners this summer amid intense interest from Europe and England

After 46 days, Arsenal are back in action. Mikel Arteta's men will take on 2. Bundesliga side FC Nurnberg this evening in their first of five pre-season fixtures scheduled ahead of the 2023/24 season.

For the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, Arteta's key players, coming up against Nurnberg is their first chance of building match fitness ahead of August's big kick-off against Nottingham Forest.

Last season, albeit with a long-term injury, question marks were raised against Gabriel Jesus' prolific nature in front of goal. The Brazilian scored 11 goals in all competitions but was often criticised for missed chances when the going got tough.

But the question simply remains: Why spend close to £75million ($97.4million) for a new striker when Balogun is one of your own?

The answer to that question currently remains unresolved. Pre-season will certainly provide some sort of clarity.

The game with Nurnberg comes at the perfect time for Balogun. It's unclear how much time he will be given by Arteta. However, any minutes against the second division side offer him a golden opportunity to give him a chance of playing in the Premier League next season.