Folarin Balogun: Mikel Arteta makes admission over striker's Arsenal future
By Tom Gott
Mikel Arteta has confessed that Arsenal must sit down with striker Folarin Balogun at the end of the season to discuss his future at the club.
The 21-year-old is enjoying a stellar campaign on loan in France with Stade Reims, with his tally of 14 goals putting him top of Ligue 1's scoring charts ahead of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and former Gunner Alexandre Lacazette, who is now plying his trade with Lyon.
Balogun will have just two years remaining on his contract when he returns to Arsenal in the summer, at which point Arteta hopes to speak with the striker to determine what the future holds.
"So happy for him," Arteta told a press conference. "He’s a boy with a really clear idea of what he wants to do in his career. Really ambitious, really committed and he’s really brave.
"We discussed before whether it was the right place to go [on loan to Reims] and other choices that he had. He was so convinced and I’m really happy for him because he deserves what he’s getting.
"I’m very pleased and obviously when you look at the numbers and what he’s doing it’s just incredible, and very rare to see that. But he’s got something special, that’s why we gave him a long-term contract and have faith in him and give him the long period that he’s having now, because the period he’s having now is different to the one before at Middlesbrough. But that one was very necessary to see the outcome that he’s having now.
"The plan is that he finishes his period there, assess the situation where he is, where we are, then sit down and plan the next chapter in his developing career."
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Arsenal are well-stocked in attack, with summer signing Gabriel Jesus and academy graduate Eddie Nketiah leading the line this season. The former racked up five goals and six assists in 14 games before picking up an injury at the World Cup, after which Nketiah has stepped in with four goals in six Premier League outings.
Both Jesus and Nketiah are contracted to Arsenal until 2027.