American Folarin Balogun Moves To AS Monaco
USMNT striker Folarin Balogun has moved to AS Monaco from Premier League club Arsenal. The French side paid a €30 million transfer fee with significant add-ons to secure the 22-year-old’s signature. He has signed a five-year contract with the club, keeping him in Monaco until 2028.
Balogun has been in high demand following his breakout season with Monaco’s Ligue 1 compatriots Stade de Reims while on loan from Arsenal last year. In 39 games for Reims, he scored 22 goals and provided six assists.
Twenty-one of these goals came in Ligue 1, making Balogun the fourth-highest goalscorer in the league alongside RB Leipzig’s new forward Loïs Openda. The only players who scored more than him were Kylian Mbappé, Alexandre Lacazette and Canadian international Jonathan David.
After a great season in France, it was reasonable to think that Mikel Arteta would want to take a look at Balogun in Arsenal’s first team. This did not happen, however, as Balogun wanted first-team football. This is something that Arteta was not able to offer him with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah ahead of him in the pecking order. Other clubs like Inter Milan began to swarm, but it was AS Monaco who ultimately won out and lured Balogun back to France.
This is a good signing for AS Monaco. Balogun not only has experience in Ligue 1, he has goal-scoring experience. He does not just wait for chances to come his way either. Last year, he took 3.6 shots per game, with only the MLS’s newest star Lionel Messi and Mbappé creating more. He uses his physicality, positioning, pace and technical ability to get shots off, explaining how he scored so many goals last year.
It will be interesting to see how Balogun performs with Monaco. At 22 years of age, he has the potential to become an elite goalscorer. If he performs well with his new club, then Arsenal may very well regret letting him move on.
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