Arsenal must demand a better deal if they are to sell 22-year-old striker Folarin Balogun this season.
That’s off the back of the club reportedly rejecting a £30m bid for Balogun from Inter Milan.
Arsenal are said to hold a valuation of around £50m for Folarin Balogun which is looking increasingly fair in this market.
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I expect all Arsenal fans would have been surprised to see the lofty figure when it was first announced, but prices are heading that way.
The transfer market is constantly setting new precedents and the latest is a £72m deal for Rasmus Hojlund heading to Manchester United.
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And whilst that price looks absurd, even for a striker with a lot of potential, it does change the game once again.
It’s hard to make a strong argument to suggest 20-year-old Rasmus Hojlund is more valuable than Folarin Balogun at this present moment.
Both have excellent potential, but only one has proven themselves as a consistent goal-scorer in Europe.
And whilst Balogun is admittedly two years further down the line, that doesn’t justify him being worth half as much.
Arsenal can’t sell Balogun for a cut price
Of course, the other important perspective here is the context of the transfers.
Balogun is available and unless a huge bid, Hojlund wasn’t.
An English side with financial muscle like Manchester United are also likely to pay a bigger fee – that’s been the reality of the market in recent years.
However, despite all of this, Arsenal really need to dig their heels in on Balogun.
If there’s one criticism of Edu and Mikel Arteta’s time at Arsenal so far, and there aren’t many, it would be players sold.
Not because they are letting the wrong profiles leave, but because they are not redeeming fair prices.
Arsenal fans will hope that the £21.4m received for Granit Xhaka will be a turning point, their first significant fee in a while.
But if Arsenal agree to sell Balogun for a cut price as the window goes on, the problem could remain.