Balogun’s Impressive Loan Spell In French Football Last Season
Balogun had a decent loan spell at Stade Reims last season when he produced a series of productive displays as the focal point of their attack. The 22-year-old banged in 22 goals and picked up three assists in 39 matches for the French club in the previous campaign across all competitions.
The United States international led the line well on his own by averaging 3.5 shots, 1.0 key passes and 0.9 dribbles per game in Ligue 1. However, he needs to work on improving his ball distribution in the final third based on his pass completion rate of 72.5% in the top tier of French football (stats via whoscored).
Balogun is under contract at Arsenal until the summer of 2025. Thus, there is no immediate need for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to let him go in this off-season.Should Arsenal Boss Mikel Arteta Let Balogun Go?
Balogun can create a yard of space for himself to get a few strikes in on-target. He can be a decent finisher in front of the opponent’s goal when he is playing with confidence on the pitch.
The United States talent can even engineer some decent openings for others around him in the final third and is quite clever with his movements in and around the opposition penalty box. He has the potential to become a future star in European football as long as he continues to improve with each season.
However, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has not got the luxury to offer him a regular starting spot at the North London club in the upcoming campaign. Thus, it is only fair to the player if the Gunners let him go either on loan or permanently during this summer transfer period.
At 22, Balogun has got a lot of room for improvement and could benefit from a switch away from the Emirates Stadium ahead of the new campaign.
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