All options open for Folarin Balogun

WITH Arsenal trying to win an unlikely Premier League title, it perhaps has been unlikley that fans have been distracted by the performances of players sent out on loan and not in Mikel Arteta’s first team set-up.

There is one exception: Folarin Balogun, who is third in the scoring charts in France after moving on a season-long deal to Reims. The unfancied French club have been the surprise packages of Ligue One this season and their own bid to qualify for Europe has been powered in part by Balogun’s goals.

This summer will be a crossroads moment for Balogun and Arsenal. There’s no doubt a section of the Gunners support believe he could be a better prospect than Eddie Nketiah, who enjoyed a good run up front in the first XI when Gabriel Jesus was left sidelined by a World Cup injury but has not always made a convincing case to be the main option.

Nevertheless, several clubs are now known to be fishing around and wondering whether Balogun will be allowed to leave the Emirates Stadium in search of first team football at an English club next season. Some have predicted that if he is allowed to depart, the Gunners could be repeating the mistake of allowing Andy Cole to leave Arsenal as a young player and then having to watch his fruitful career as a striker for Newcastle United and Manchester United.

In an interview with the Daily Mail today (Wednesday), Balogun seemed aware of the hype but said it was not just his parent club that would be noticing his scoring record.

Asked about what will happen when he returns to north London in the summer, he said: “I haven’t thought that far if I’m honest. What I’ve been able to do so far, I’m sure it’s making a lot of noise: not just at Arsenal but everywhere. It’s just about continuing that, staying focused and helping the team.”

Arteta keeps his card close to the chest. He sent prize defender William Saliba out on loan last season, again to France, before making him a first team starter this term. There had been speculation before this that Saliba, now considered one of Europe’s best centre backs and part of France’s international set-up, would ever nail down a future at Arsenal.

The manager could be doing the same with Balogun, even if his admiration for Nketiah ran as far as awarding him Thierry Henry’s famous No. 14 squad number.

Henry has proved a big help to Balogun during his time in France, providing wise counsel and advice on how to take accountability for his career eventually pans out.

In the same interview, Balogun said: “He [Henry] is somebody who’s seen the heights of the game and has taken steps in his career than I’m now taking in terms of playing abroad.

“He knows the feeling and how uncomfortable it can be. So I’m asking more general questions about his career and how he felt at certain points.”