USMNT star Christian Pulisic has insisted that his international teammates would "love" to have Folarin Balogun join them amid continued speculation regarding his future.
Balogun is enjoying a stellar season in France with Stade Reims, outscoring Lionel Messi and Neymar in Ligue 1. After scoring 18 goals in 29 games for Will Still's side, the 21-year-old was named in the England Under-21s squad for their international friendlies against France and Croatia.
However, he pulled out of Lee Carsley's side due to an injury sustained in Sunday's defeat to Marseille. The Arsenal loanee has since been pictured in Orlando - where the USMNT are currently based - accelerating rumours he is close to opting for the United States.
READ MORE: Folarin Balogun sends USMNT fans into frenzy with Instagram post
Having been born in New York, the striker is eligible to play for USMNT. He has already featured for the youth teams at under-18s level five years ago. Since then, he's been a regular in the England youth set-up.
Now, after being pictured training in the scorching heat of Orlando, Balogun has been urged to link up with the likes of Matt Turner and Christian Pulisic in the future. Speaking to the reporters, Pulisic discussed the potential inclusion of the Gunners man.
"I haven't really spoken to him personally. I know some of the guys that know him from previous teams or whatever have reached out to him and spoke to him," the Chelsea man said. "From our side, we'd love to have him."
It isn't the first time a member of the United States team has flirted with the idea of Balogun linking up with the 13th-ranked side after goalkeeper Turner was quizzed on the prospect earlier this week. “I've spoken to Flo. We obviously had most of our pre-season together and I knew going into it that he had some roots in the U.S., so he and I developed a relationship pretty quickly," the Arsenal shot-stopper said.
"That's pretty much the extent of it. We check in on each other here and there. He'd be a great addition to our national team. I think he's done really well, obviously, for his club on loan, and we'll see.
"The decision has to come from the heart because it's not necessarily an easy task always to come and play in these CONCACAF games. It's a tough region at times. So for us, we'd be really grateful to have him but his heart needs to be in it.”
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