Players go out on loan to develop and show why they should be considered to return and feature for their parent club. Arsenal’s star out on loan, Folarin Balogun, is the one who has really taken his chances.
The 21-year-old has emerged as the finest striker the French league has to offer, as in 26 league games for Stade de Reims, he has managed 16 goals and 1 assist. His goalscoring ability has seen him rank third in Ligue 1’s top scorer’s charts this season behind Kylian Mbappe and Jonathan David; notably, he has more goals than Neymar and Messi.
These incredible stats have the Arsenal star emerging as an in-demand striker as far as the transfer window, with Football Insider back in February claiming, “One source said Arsenal expect “half the Premier League” to be bidding for Balogun this summer, with a return overseas for the youngster deemed less of a possibility.”
So will Arsenal take advantage of the chance they have to raise some cash from Balogun, or will they retain him and hope to reap big rewards from his sharpness in front of goal?
As per Football Transfers, Mikel Arteta doesn’t even think about cashing in on Balogun; what he is thinking about is whether to retain him or once again take him out on loan next season. Comparing Balogun’s case to that of Saliba, Football Transfer writes, “Arteta has already shown in the past that he is prepared to be patient with young players by sending them out on loan until he feels they are ready to make the step up at Arsenal.
“That has been exemplified by centre-back William Saliba, who spent three separate loan spells in Ligue 1 with Saint-Etienne, Nice, and Marseille…
“He is ready to adopt a similar approach with Balogun, although the final decision as to whether the player returns to Arsenal for 2023/24 or remains at Reims will only be made at the end of the season.”
Arsenal may have the desire to add an attacker this summer; to do so, they may just save millions by putting their trust in Balogun.
Personally I think Arteta will wait until seeing him in action in pre-season before deciding.
What do you think?
Sam P
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