Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on young striker Folarin Balogun for his current loan exploits with Reims.
After the Gunners brought in fellow forward Gabriel Jesus during last summer's transfer window, the club decided to send Balogun out on loan to further his development. Ligue 1 side Reims seemed like a sensible option for the young frontman to get some much-needed game time and the temporary move has proven to be perfect for all parties involved.
The 21-year-old has netted 14 league goals already this term, making him the current top scorer in the French top flight, ahead of the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and footballing icon Lionel Messi. That kind of form hasn't gone unnoticed either, with Arteta now lauding the talented youngster for his rapid development in recent months.
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Speaking about Balogun ahead of Arsenal's clash against Brentford on Saturday, 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." When discussing the player's period with Middlesbrough in particular, Arteta then 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." There were some suggestions that the Gunners should think about recalling Balogun from his loan spell after the aforementioned Jesus suffered an injury during Brazil's World Cup campaign but Arteta also claimed that the plan has always been for the New-York born talent to finish his season in France.
"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," the Spaniard said.
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