Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun's decision to join Ligue 1 outfit Reims on a season-long loan deal is looking like a masterstroke with each passing week.
Whilst spending the second half of last season in the Championship with Middlesbrough - helping to knock Tottenham out of the FA Cup along the way - was good for the youngster to get a regular taste of first-team mfootball, moving abroad this year is going to help him 'develop as a man'.
And it's Balogun's choice to leave London altogether and head to France which has impressed none other than Arsenal legend Thierry Henry: "Normally players are loaned either to another Premier League side or in the Championship," he told Prime Video Sport France last month.
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"He’s a very English-style player who likes to run down the channels but he was missing something, which was his finishing. He's now starting to score goals regularly and I’m happy for that – happy he has gone abroad. It’s especially so considering he is a Londoner, in general Londoners struggle to leave London."
Clearly a big fan of the Arsenal youngster, Henry also sent a message to the 21-year-old, whilst quizzing the striker: "Hello big man, how are you? What are your goals this season?" he asked. "See you soon and hopefully you can be like this man [Muhammad Ali]. All the very best in that, ciao."
This video clip actually took Balogun by surprise, but he managed to maintain his composure and revealed what his targets are for the season: "I haven't seen this video before so I'm shocked, I can't believe this," he responded. "For me Thierry Henry is a very special guy because he's done so much in his career.
"To get ten goals, five assists and to learn French so hopefully I can do this before I leave. If I reach it, I'd change them again. They are my goals."
Balogun was on target for Reims at the weekend, scoring the opening goal in their 2-1 win over Auxerre and the finish not only brought about similarities with Henry, but also allowed him to move back above Lionel Messi in the Ligue 1 scoring charts after the Paris Saint-Germain superstar had netted against Ajaccio.
So, with seven Ligue 1 goals to his name so far - one more than Messi and three fewer than the current leading scorer Kylian Mbappe - it's safe to say Balogun is on course to reach that target very soon and he could do so in Reims' remaining three fixtures before the season pauses for the winter World Cup in Qatar.
In this scenario, the striker will have to change his target in terms of goals as he could perhaps set his sights on challenging Mbappe, Neymar and former teammate Alexandre Lacazette for the top scorer award which would be an amazing feat, considering he plays for a team that generates 1.92 goal-creating actions per 90, as per FBREF, in comparison to 4.33 per 90 at PSG.
In terms of assists, as per BBC, the striker has only recorded one in 12 appearances thus far, so there's a bit more work to do on that front. As for learning a new language, time will tell if he's able to complete that task, but if his performances on the pitch are anything to go by, expect him to return to London Colney speaking French fluently.
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