Gabriel Jesus' knee injury and subsequent surgery will have an impact on Arsenal for the foreseeable future.
Whilst Eddie Nketiah is the natural replacement for the Brazilian when the Premier League season resumes on Boxing Day, options beyond the Hale End academy graduate are quite thin even with the imminent return of Emile Smith Rowe who has been tipped to play as a centre-forward by Mikel Arteta.
With the January transfer window fast approaching, there is a chance for the Arsenal manager and newly-appointed sporting director Edu Gaspar to push ahead with plans to sign a wide forward amid links to Shakhtar Donetsk's Mykhaylo Mudryk or Cody Gakpo of PSV Eindhoven.
READ MORE: Arsenal facing harsh reality but Gabriel Jesus injury can accelerate exciting January transfer
Alternatively, there is an option that would save the north London outfit millions of pounds; bringing back Folarin Balogun from his season-long loan spell in France with Reims ahead of schedule as football.london understands that the striker's contract with the Ligue 1 side does contain a recall clause that can be activated in January.
Balogun could certainly prove to be a useful short-term replacement for Jesus given he has netted eight goals and registered another two assists in 15 league appearances so far - outscoring Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi in the top flight of French football for that matter.
Of those 15 appearances, 12 have come as a starter which is sure to please Arteta who has previously made it clear regular game time is key to the youngster's development: "I think Flo is doing what he needed to do, and probably we should have done it a little bit earlier," the Spaniard said last season when Balogun was on loan at Middlesbrough.
"It's always a bit difficult to time when is the best moment to do that. But he’s having the right exposure, he’s playing in a different formation and sometimes a different role under a manager and a club with huge history. You can see how he is developing. This is going to give us more detail about what is the next best move for him to keep developing, because he has developed and we want him to be part of our future.
"He needed a pathway, he needs that exposure. He needs to go through good and difficult moments, and he needs to be able to adapt and find himself in the dressing room, and develop the importance that is required to play at this level. I think he is doing all of that really well."
And after Balogun joined Reims in the summer, a similar message from the Arsenal manager was echoed: "Before I moved, Mikel said he wanted me to develop as a man. It was kind of like an open answer and for me to interpret what me meant by develop as a man," he said, as cited by the Mirror.
"But by moving abroad, I’m starting to learn what he meant. It doesn’t just mean on the pitch but also off the pitch. I think by the time I go back I’ll be in a better place to compete than I was before I left."
With the importance of Balogun playing regularly in mind and when taking into consideration the decisions Arteta has made regarding the striker over the past 18 months, it points towards him not thinking the youngster is ready to play a prominent role for Arsenal just yet.
For example, the Spaniard allowed the striker to join Middlesbrough last season even when Arsenal were struggling to score goals and after he had frozen out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Furthermore, the fact Balogun barely featured in pre-season was a clear sign he didn't figure in Arteta's plans for the campaign.
Of course, the situation has changed with Jesus set for a spell on the sidelines. However, it probably wouldn't be beneficial for the 21-year-old's development if his progress was halted mid-season as his guaranteed game time at Reims won't be replicated at Arsenal with Nketiah ahead of him in the pecking order and he would also find himself as the third-choice striker when the Brazilian is fit again.
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