Folarin Balogun – Arsenal’s next academy graduate destined for greatness

Folarin Balogun stole the headlines on Thursday night as the young Gunner scored his first goal for Arsenal’s senior team. The goal came as the 19-year-old popped up late to seal a comfortable 3-0 win against Molde, as well as securing early qualification for Arsenal in the last 32 of the Europa League.

The young star shone from the bench with his first senior goal for Arsenal coming late in the game against their Norwegian opponents. The 19-year-old netted merely 37 seconds after entering the fray, when a short pass from fellow academy graduate Emile Smith Rowe found the forward in the box. Balogun performed a lightning quick turn and fired his shot low and hard into the centre of the goal, leaving the keeper helpless to prevent him scoring with only his second touch of the game.

Balogun joined the Arsenal academy when he was 10 and has been a free scoring forward ever since. The young striker led Arsenal’s front line to glory in the 18/19 season as the Under 18’s won the Premier League 2 in which Balogun scored 24 goals in 24 games, topping the league goalscoring charts and impressing all round.

Arsenal fans will be delighted to hear that the goalscoring powerhouse could be set to feature yet again next week in the Europa League, as the Gunners have now qualified for the next round of the competition and have a congestion of winter fixtures coming up meaning squad rotation could be on the cards for them. This could mean that Balogun may be handed his full debut as early as next week at the Emirates Stadium against Austrian opponents Rapid Wien.

In his post-match press conference, Mikel Arteta was full of praise for the young forward, saying that:

‘He’s working really hard as well. He had some difficult months as well. We had some speculation around him. He’s handled the situation in a really mature way.’

Arteta addressed the recent speculation around Balogun’s future as there have been plenty of clubs eager to acquire the 19-year old’s signature across the country. The Arsenal boss appears confident about Balogun’s future however, telling the press that;

‘He wants to stay; we want him to stay. We gave him the opportunity and he took it straight away’

The youngster seems set on an Arsenal career for now and it seems that sooner rather than later he will follow in the footsteps of the seven other academy graduates (Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin) in the current squad to feature in the Premier League.

Although Balogun has lived in England since he was two and has represented the Three Lions at youth level, the striker has admitted he still does not know which country he will represent. Having been born in America and also being eligible to play for Nigeria internationally, Balogun will have to decide who he wants to represent on the biggest stage. With performances like the one in Norway on Thursday, it looks like the lethal forward will have to decide who he will represent a lot sooner than expected.

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