Folarin Balogun has told Arsenal he would not come back to be third choice at the club.
This has left the Premier League side open to selling the player this summer.
Balogun has spent this season at Stade de Reims, scoring 18 goals in Ligue 1 – one fewer than Kylian Mbappe and more than both Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
The 21-year-old is due back in north London in the summer but faces being behind both Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah in the Arsenal pecking order.
Balogun has two years left on his current deal and sources insist all options remain on the table.
The striker remains in regular contact with Arsenal’s loan manager Ben Knapper.
But with the striker said to have no plans to extend his contract or head out on another loan, there is a sense that the time could be right for him to leave Arsenal.
There are, though, some similarities with William Saliba’s situation last summer, when he returned from loan and was linked with a move away from Arsenal, only to force his way into Mikel Arteta’s side.
