Folarin Balogun: Now A True Gunner

Having gotten tired of playing in Premier League 2, Folarin Balogun was considering several offers to move abroad, with his contract due to expire this summer. Arsenal however made a swift move by signing him on a new four-year deal and promoted him to first team after it appeared he was heading through the exit door

It is going to be a big season for Folarin Balogun after it was announced that following constant speculation regarding his future that he had signed a new deal at the Emirates Stadium and his aim to establish himself as a first-team player next season.

“My ambitions for next season are to make an impact on the first team,” he said. “I see it as something I’ve taken upon myself to be able to go over there and make an impact and not just be one of the numbers.” I want to be someone who eventually leads that group so I would say I have quite driven ambitions and we’ll see if I can make them happen.”

It would appear that Balogun has already completed one of his goals as he was seen wearing the number 26 top in training.
Meanwhile, Arteta is considering a change of position for Balogun with Arsenal’s Premier League prospect being retrained as a left-sided attacker.

To look at Balogun, you’d think he’s a player perfectly suited to the number nine role.
Physically imposing and a penalty-box menace, the Anglo-American-Nigerian
wonderkid has scored the majority of his 22 goals in 49 Premier League 2 games from a central role.
But Arteta obviously believes Balogun has more to offer in a different position.

The 20-year-old has been used more on the wing during pre-season training.
It’s safe to assume Arsenal supporters will hope Balogun can adapt to a wider role better than Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did.

It was a source of constant debate during the first half of last season, with Aubameyang’s ineffective performances on the left leading to plenty of frustration directed at the Arsenal manager.
Balogun, then, will hope to hit the ground running in his new position as he looks to avoid finding himself at the centre of a similar debate.

The academy graduate is expected to play a larger role in the first-team picture next season, having put an end to speculation linking him with Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig while signing a new four-year deal in April.

“Balogun has unique qualities as a striker – his speed and the way he holds the ball. He’s a real goal threat and he works tremendously hard,” Arteta said recently.

“He’s a very hungry boy. He wants to do everything and wants to practise more every single day. He will be pushing anybody in our first team to get his spot and that’s exactly what we want.
“He’s got the chance. Now it’s time for him to prove himself.”

The Gunners have been known for giving youth team products, such as Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe and Joe Willock, a chance in the first team.
Now Okonkwo and Balogun are emerging as talents among the next generation, and their manager believes they will get plenty of chances to show their quality.

Giving reasons why he promoted Folarin Balogun to the senior team, Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, has said that he promoted Nigerian descents, Arthur Okonkwo and Balogun, to his squad first-team because they have raised the level of the Gunners’ academy.

Speaking to Arsenal’s website, Arteta said: “It is great, it is just a small step being a part of preseason matches, but now the bigger step is trying to become a regular in the first team. That is a small step compared to the next step they have to take.

“That is the first thing they have to realise, the hard work is not done yet. The hard work is going to start right now, and the expectations start right now and if they have this mentality they have the potential, we believe in them and they will have the opportunities.”

He added: “Both of them are really different but at the same time very similar.
“They have both raised the level of the academy to a point that it wasn’t any more for them so we had to look to create the space around the first team for them to be able to develop in the way that we want them to.”

Arteta believes both Okonkwo and Balogun are now mature to the point where they can’t play in the academy, adding that he had to create space for them in Arsenal’s first team.
The Spaniard added that both players had the hunger and they showed the desire to stay at Arsenal and fight to become one of the first-team regulars.

Arteta stated this ahead of Arsenal’s Florida Cup tie against Inter Milan on Sunday.
Speaking further on both player’s promotion, Arteta told Arsenal media, “It is great.
“That is the first thing they have to realise, the hard work is not done yet. The hard work is going to start right now, and the expectations start right now and if they have this mentality, they have the potential, we believe in them and they will have the opportunities.

“Both of them are really different but at the same time very similar.
“They have both raised the level of the academy to the point that it wasn’t any more for them, so we had to look to create the space around the first team for them to be able to develop in the way that we want them to.

“I think they are the right age and they have space in the squad to do that and they have the hunger and they showed the desire to stay at the football club and fight to become one of the first-team regulars” Arteta added.

A popular player for the U-23 squad, the 18-year-old Balogun was a non-playing substitute when Arsenal faced Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup in September last year.
Aubameya is the main focal point in the Arsenal attack, while the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli were ahead of Balogun in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order of center forwards in 2020-2021.

To create room for Balogun in the Arsenal squad and with an eye on next year’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, where Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pepe is expected to be away for at least three weeks, Arteta is trying to develop a new system.

The Hale End Academy graduate was deployed on the left wing in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Glasgow Rangers last weekend.
New York City-born Balogun was named in Arsenal’s traveling squad to the United States, where they will compete in the Florida Cup.