Middlesbrough are set to pay 15 per cent of Folarin Balogun’s wages upon completion of his loan deal.

The striker will be signing from Arsenal, for a reported loan fee of roughly £1m.

Middlesbrough will be paying 15 per cent of his £43k per week wages during his time with the club, according to Football London reporter Chris Wheatley

Chris Wilder told the player that he will be using him as the central striker in his team, which Wheatley also claims is what helped convince Balogun of the move. 

Balogun has made two Premier League appearances for the Gunners this season, including a start against Brentford on the opening day of the campaign. 

The Arsenal youngster has also represented England at underage level from U17 all the way up to U21. 

Middlesbrough are currently seventh in the Championship, one point off the play-off places and with a game in hand on sixth place Huddersfield Town.

 

 

Chris Wilder took over the club in November, which makes this January his first opportunity to make his mark on the Middlesbrough squad. 

Boro have won their last three games in a row in the league and are unbeaten in six. Wilder’s side also progressed to the next round of the FA Cup last weekend with a victory over Mansfield Town.

Their reward for victory is a meeting at Old Trafford with Manchester United in the Fourth Round. Their next league game comes against Reading on January 15. 

The Verdict

When the rumours around this deal first came out it sounded like Middlesbrough were set to pay a lot more of Balogun’s wages than this. 

For only 15 per cent, the financial aspect of this deal now looks a lot more reasonable.

How Balogun is on that much given his experience is quite puzzling but that is now solely Arsenal’s problem instead of Middlesbrough’s.

Wilder will be getting a hungry striker who will need to prove himself if he wants to step into Mikel Arteta’s squad next season. This will bolster their attacking options and there is now very little risk towards the club if it doesn’t work out.