Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has suggested that Folarin Balogun may need to seek a move away from the club this summer to secure first team football for next season.
The striker has enjoyed a productive loan spell in France, scoring 19 goals in 34 matches for Reims. This has come in the same campaign in which the Gunners have pushed for the league title, with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah leading the line for Mikel Arteta's side, scoring 14 goals between them.
However, despite having scored more than his counterparts this season, Henry has advised that the 21-year-old should look elsewhere in order to maximise his potential. The New York born forward has recently declared to play for the USA at international level, with confirmation on May 16 that he would play for the country of his birth.
The USA hosts the next World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada in 2026, by which time Balogun will be 24-years-old, and this leaves some important decisions to make regarding his future. AC Milan are believed to be interested in the Hale End graduate, with a £26million offer thought to be enough to prize him away from Arsenal.
Speaking on Tuesday night as part of CBS Sport's coverage of Inter vs AC Milan, legendary Arsenal striker Thierry Henry insisted that regular playing time should be the priority when it comes to making a decision over where to play his football next season.
Henry said: "For him next year, it is important that he plays. I don't know if he will play for Arsenal, With England, he had to battle with Callum Wilson, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins, Tammy Abraham, Harry Kane.
"He is a great player for USA as they are missing that No.9. He has been great in France, now he has to find a team where he will play next year."
Balogun has been working with coach Will Still this season, with Reims going 19 matches unbeaten earlier in the campaign. They have, however, dipped in recent weeks and have now lost five of their last eight matches, slipping to eleventh in the table having once looked good bets for European football.
Despite the recent dip in form, the loan move to Reims has been a productive one for Balogun, outscoring Lionel Messi and Neymar in one of Europe's top five leagues. It is a far cry from his loan with Middlesbrough in the Championship last season, where he scored just three times in 18 matches in the North East.
Balogun remains the top scoring player aged 21 or under in Europe's top five leagues, and could be brought in to provide competition for Arsenal's two current striking options, with a return to the Champions League on the cards next season.
His contract expires in 2025, and in February Arteta suggested that the player had a long-term future at the club, telling the club's website: “I’m so happy for him,” Arteta revealed. “He’s a boy that has a really clear idea of what he wants to do with his career. He’s really ambitious, really committed and really brave.
“We discussed a lot before he made that move whether it was the right place to go and the other choices he had. He was so convinced. I’m really happy for him because he deserves what he’s getting.
“When you look at the numbers and what he is doing, it’s just incredible. It’s very rare to see that. But he’s got something special, that’s why we decided to give him a long-term contract and have faith in him and give him the long period that he needs now, because the loan he is having now is really different to the one he had before at Middlesbrough."
