Folarin Balogun, on loan from Arsenal, says he is "staying focused" on his time at Reims rather than his future with the Gunners. After spending half of last season on loan with Championship Middlesbrough, the 21-year-old is in excellent form this season in Ligue 1. The current Premier League champions' star for England's Under-21 team joined Arsenal when he was eight years old and signed his first professional contract in 2019, extending it in 2021 until June 2025. With only 10 first-team appearances for Arsenal and two goals to his name, the pressure is mounting on the striker to step up and show his parent club that he can captain the Gunners' line. Balogun, however, has now admitted that he isn't concerned about what will happen back in north London and is only focused on finishing the season on a high note with Reims, despite the surrounding noise.
The PSG star has 13 fewer league goals than Balogun, who has surpassed Lionel Messi's total this season. Since 1956, he is also the youngest player to score 17 goals in their first season in France's top division. The young forward is currently tied for second place in Ligue 1 this season with 17 goals scored with Wissam Ben Yedder of Monaco and ex-Gunners forward Alexandre Lacazette of Lyon. Only Lille's Jonathan David and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, who both share first place on 19, have more.Balogun insists that despite his success, he is not fixated on the scoring charts and instead is focused on helping Reims, who have a chance of finishing in the European spots this season. The World Cup injury to Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus highlighted how few options Mikel Arteta had up top, with Eddie Nketiah the only player available to step up. But now that Leandro Trossard is also involved, it's uncertain what Balogun's future holds.
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“I haven’t thought that far if I’m honest,” Balogun told the Daily Mail when asked about his return to Arsenal in the summer and beyond. “What I’ve been able to do so far, I’m sure it’s making a lot of noise – not just at Arsenal but everywhere. It’s just about continuing that, staying focused and helping the team.” “Honestly, it doesn’t really do anything for me,” he admitted. “It would be very fickle to think: ‘Because I’ve got more goals than Messi or Neymar…’ “It doesn’t mean anything. Also, the season’s not finished.”
