Arsenal striker's new deal gives West Ham hope to land record goal scorer

Folarin Balogun has decided to commit his future to Arsenal which puts Eddie Nketiah's long-term future in doubt.

West Ham United have been given hope that they can sign Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah this summer after the Gunners convinced young forward Folarin Balogun to commit his future to the club until 2025.

The Hammers are desperate to add to their frontline after selling Sebastian Haller to Ajax in January and have put Nketiah on their shot-list along with Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri, according to the London Evening Standard.

West Ham were keen on signing the England U-21 record goal scorer in January but Arsenal refused to acknowledge their advances with Mikel Arteta insisting that Nketiah had a role to play for the North London club.

Nketiah has found regular football tough to come by in the last couple of months with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette ahead of him in the pecking order for the central striker's role.

The striker admitted his frustration at the lack of game time during his recent outing with the England youth team in the international break, which could see him push for a move in the summer.

"It's been a difficult last month or so. I haven't played as much as I would have liked," Nketiah said. "I have been working hard and being dedicated, which adds to the frustration, but I have a great opportunity in front of me."

West Ham will feel their chances of signing Nketiah will have improved after Arsenal secured Balogun's long-term future as the former has just one year remaining on his existing deal with no talks over an extension on the horizon.

However, Nketiah is not the only striker whose future at the Emirates Stadium has been questioned beyond the summer. There are also doubts about Lacazette's long-term future despite the Frenchman's recent heroics in the Premier League and Europa League.

The Gunners have also been linked with other strikers in recent weeks with Celtic's Odsonne Edouard said to be top of the short-list if they do decide to reshuffle their forward line ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.