Arteta positive Balogun will stay at the Emirates
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has again come up with bit of a good news about Arsenal’s “so-called” prodigal footballer Folarin Balogun.
The striker who was born in New York before moving to England as an infant has been exceptional in the youth ranks at Arsenal. The 19-year-old has 20 goals and six assists for Arsenal’s U23 squad. His numbers at the U18 level are even more impressive at 38 goals and eight assists in just 41 appearances.
This is not just a player. This is the Player. Although the center-forward has just seven appearances for the first-team, all coming this season under Arteta, the striker exceeded expectations with his displays in those appearances.
The American born striker scored a beautiful goal, 37 seconds after coming on in a win against Norwegian side Molde in November. It somewhat reassured the spectators that the forward can thrive in the first-team environment, if given the opportunity. Even though the sample size is small, he did not look like a player who was just breaking through to the first-team.
What makes the 19-year-old so special is his versatility. The forward showed that he can link-up, hold-up and finish, all with great effect.
Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s clash against Burnley on Saturday, Mikel Arteta said that Edu and the club has been in positive conversations with Balogun and his agent.
The Spaniard said, ”I think I am pretty positive about it (Balogun staying) and every time I spoke to him, he mentions the same thing.
“That he’s determined to stay here and he wants to stay here. He has some really positive conversations with his agent as well and Edu is in charge of that. He’s been spending a lot of time and energy to make that deal happen because it’s important for us to keep our talent in the house, and what we can guarantee is that we’re doing everything we can to keep him.”
One of the best things Arsenal can do this year is to tie down their young star striker. If they manage to do so, Arsenal fans, no doubt, would flood the social media with comments such as “Don Edu has done it again!”
Yash Bisht