Mikel Arteta has hinted that the long-term contract Folarin Balogun signed last year is an indication of the faith the club has in his ability to become a first team regular at Arsenal.
The England Under-21 striker put pen to paper on a new deal almost 12 months ago, ending months of speculation surrounding his future as it appeared he was set to leave his boyhood club on a lucrative free transfer.
Balogun spend the second half of last season on loan at Middlesbrough, a move that didn’t quite work out, and it was decided that his development would be best served by another spell away from his parent club.
The 21-yeard-old has enjoyed a stellar campagin with Reims for whom he has scored 14 goals already and and leads the Ligue 1 scoring chart ahead of the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
Asked if he was surprised by Balogun’s rapid development, Arteta said: ‘So happy for him. 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.’
On what was a tough but ultimately important period at Middlesbrough for the American-born striker, Arteta added: ‘He had some scars from that period. There were moments when he suffered, moments where he played, moments where he didn’t play, moments where he played but he believed he wasn’t in his best position and throw all the excuses out.
‘It’s a proper experience to add to the next one. That’s what he did, put that behind him but using what worked for him, what didn’t work for him, look in the mirror and go to the next one.’
With Gabriel Jesus established as Arsenal’s No.1 striker and Eddie Nketiah taking his game to another level this season, opportunities may be even harder to come by at Arsenal next season for Balogun.
Already he has been linked with a host of clubs but Arteta insists a decision on his future won’t be taken until the summer.
‘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,’ said Arteta.
Source: metro.co.uk
