Arsenal’s season is going so well that they are able to do without a striker who is eclipsing Kylian Mbappe in the French goalscoring charts.
When Gabriel Jesus went down injured at the World Cup, there may have been a collective sharp intake of breath in the north-east of France. Could Reims be about to see their star striker recalled from his season-long loan in January to cover for Jesus?
In the event, the Gunners did not take that option. Reims fans can thank Eddie Nketiah for helping protect their young, in-form, English goal machine.
Folarin Balogun remains a Reims player, and guided by a 30-year-old English manager, he is making waves in France’s top flight.
By scoring a hat-trick against Lorient on Wednesday, 21-year-old Balogun moved onto 14 goals in 20 Ligue 1 matches – more than global superstars Mbappe (13) and Neymar (12) of Paris Saint-Germain.
Balogun, who also scored a dramatic last-minute equaliser against PSG last weekend, is one of the form players in Europe’s top five leagues right now. So how did he come to join Reims, why has his development been so rapid and what are Arsenal ’s plans for his future?
Let Mirror Football explain.
‘Refreshing mindset’
The hype around Balogun is huge at the moment – but it is nothing new. Rewind to the 2020-21 season and Arsenal were busy battling to keep hold of the England youth international.
Eventually they won that fight, with Balogun penning a new four-year contract in April 2021. The question then was how best to help the young striker take his game to the next level.
After a taste of first-team football under Mikel Arteta, which yielded a promising return of two goals and an assist in 10 games, the decision was taken to send him to Middlesbrough in January 2022.
Balogun picked up three goals and three assists in 18 Championship appearances for Boro in an experience which paved the way for his explosion in France this season. The England under-21 international had Championship sides queuing around the block for his signature over the summer, but chose a different option. He was going to a small city in the Champagne-growing region of France.
“I’ve spent my whole career in London so when I came here I knew it was going to be different,” Balogun told Prime Video earlier this season.
“I didn’t know the language and I’m still trying to learn – but for me it’s important to step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. This is the reason I’m here and hopefully this decision will be good for me and pay off.”
It was a decision that immediately impressed Arsenal royalty. “I’m really happy for him because in general English players don’t go abroad – normally players are loaned either to another Premier League side or in the Championship,” Thierry Henry said on Prime Video in September. “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. When I heard he was coming to France, it made me think he has a refreshing mindset."
Henry has been in contact with Balogun throughout the season and earned himself a tribute after the Arsenal loanee scored against PSG.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Folarin Balogun become an important player for Arsenal next season? Comment below.
English connection
Having a refreshing mindset is one thing, but being able to consistently score in an unfamiliar league, for a team which finished 12th and 14th in the previous two seasons, is another. Balogun has settled in fantastically, even if his French still earns some playful banter from his Reims team-mates.
When Balogun arrived at Reims, the manager was Oscar Garcia. But the former Brighton and Watford boss was sacked in October with the team struggling in 15th place. His replacement would prove instrumental in Balogun’s upward curve.
Will Still is Europe’s youngest top-flight manager at 30 years old. He came into management via an unusual route, which involved playing Football Manager, and costs Reims £22,000 per game in fines, on account of the fact he is yet to have earned his UEFA pro licence.
Still arrived following a prolonged stint learning the game in Belgian football, where he was assistant that Standard Liege among other clubs. He has been a revelation at Reims, where he is still yet to taste defeat, with the 4-2 win over Lorient extending his unbeaten run to 15 games in all competitions.
Reims were 2-0 down in that match, following a sloppy start, before a Balogun hat-trick turned things around. He slammed a penalty down the middle and volleyed in a deflected cross at the near post, before saving the best for last.
Peeling off his defender, he was picked out by a long diagonal pass which he casually volleyed into the bottom corner with his weaker left foot. His hat-trick completed a brilliant few days which had started against PSG on Sunday.
At the Parc des Princes, raced down the middle, rounded Gianluigi Donnarumma and kept his composure to lift his finish over the retreating Marquinhos with the last kick of the game.
“He is a super complete striker, he is able to play with his back to goal, in depth,” said Still. “It is technically very clean. He scores, he is decisive.”
‘Part of our future’
Balogun has been an Arsenal player since the age of eight. And while he is having a great time across the English Channel, the plan is to break into the Gunners’ first team next season.
He still has two years left his Arsenal contract and a new one might well be in the pipeline. Arsenal have a clear policy of tying down their best youngsters to long deals, with William Saliba and Bukayo Saka expected to follow in the footsteps of Gabriel Martinelli soon.
Unsurprisingly, Arteta is a big fan of Balogun’s. Speaking in March, while Balogun was still at Middlesbrough, he outlined his plan.
“We want him to be part of our future. He needed a pathway, he needs that exposure,” Arteta said. "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."
Those boxes now appear to have been ticked – and he still has another half of the season to go in which to impress further.
Balogun is confident he has what it takes to translate his form in France to form in the Premier League. "Arsenal is my family. For me, the club represents brotherhood and unity,” Balogun told L'Equipe recently. "There, I learned always to push my limits. I remember from training the permanent desire to progress on a technical level.
"I think by the time I go back I’ll be in a better place to compete than I was before I left. I realised there were certain things I would struggle with, but I think that’s a good thing. It helps you to manage stuff you’re uncomfortable with which is important.”
Right now there doesn’t appear to be too many things that Balogun finds uncomfortable.
