Folarin Balogun is the Arsenal loanee tearing up French football

After 21 rounds of fixtures in the top division of French football, it is no surprise that Paris Saint-Germain are leading the table. The Qatar-owned club have, after all, won eight of the past ten Ligue 1 titles. And they do boast a front line of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. So far, so normal.

The league title might be heading to its usual destination in May, but there is one area of Ligue 1 where the established order is being unexpectedly disrupted. In the scoring charts, neither Mbappe, Neymar or Messi are leading the way. PSG are the league’s best team but, at this point of the season, they do not have the league’s deadliest forward.

Standing above them all, with 14 goals in 20 appearances (a return of one goal every 108 minutes) is an Arsenal loanee who arrived in France as a little-known prospect with an ambition to score 10 times all season. Folarin Balogun has already smashed that target and, at the age of 21, he is fast becoming one of the most exciting young forwards in Europe.

In an extraordinary season for the striker, the past five days have been especially memorable. On Sunday night, he struck a 90th-minute equaliser against PSG, away from home. And then, on Wednesday, he produced a superb hat-trick against Lorient, helping Reims to a 4-2 victory (watch the video below).

Balogun has defied all expectations in France and the quality of his performances will prompt some interesting conversations at Arsenal over the next few months. Do they cash in on a striker who has gained admirers across the continent, or do they back Balogun to continue this form in the Premier League, in the red-and-white of his parent club?

Time will tell. For now, Arsenal can only hope that Balogun continues his remarkable development as both a player and a person. He chose Reims because he wanted to leave his “comfort zone”, he has said, and the loan has so far worked in almost every way (his French, his manager says, remains “absolutely shocking”).

It has helped Balogun that the manager in question is William Still, an English-Belgian coach who, at the age of just 30, has proven of the brightest young thinkers in the French game. Still speaks perfect English and has found a way to make the most of Balogun’s physical and technical attributes.

For most Arsenal supporters, Balogun (know as "Flo" to team-mates) will be best remembered for starting the opening match of last season, a painful 2-0 loss at Brentford. The academy graduate was thrown into the team at late notice as a result of a Covid outbreak and, understandably, struggled on his Premier League debut.

In the second half of last season he was loaned to Middlesbrough, where he scored three goals in 18 appearances in the Championship. Evidently, this was not the sort of return that suggested Balogun was ready to take one of Europe’s major leagues by storm.

Different players develop at different speeds, though, and in recent months Balogun has shown himself to be an all-round forward of considerable class. “He is a super complete striker,” said Still this week. “He is able to play with his back to goal and is technically very clean. He scores, he is decisive.”

Balogun’s equaliser at PSG came in front of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who was at the game and spoke to the young striker before kick-off. Balogun celebrated his goal by resting his arm on the corner flag, in the same way that Henry used to, and said afterwards that it was “only right I show my respect”.

It was not Balogun’s first meeting with Henry. The pair had briefly worked together on the academy pitches at Arsenal, when Henry was coaching at the club. Balogun, who has scored a couple of Europa League goals under Mikel Arteta, has said he also learned from watching Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in first-team training in recent years.

With English and German teams also interested in signing Balogun on loan last summer, he opted for Reims after studying their style of play. He felt the speed of the transitions in Ligue 1 would suit his skills and, clearly, he was right. He is a quick and instinctive forward, capable of finishing with either foot.

In an interview with the Ligue 1 website in November, Balogun said he had been working on the timing of his runs. “If you start at the right time, nobody can stop you,” he said. This was proven to be true with that goal last weekend, when he darted behind the PSG defence. Once he had taken off, there was no catching him.

Having made such a good decision on his loan move this season, Balogun will be hoping to do the same when he chooses which national team to represent. He is eligible to play for Nigeria, the United States and England, and has played for both the US and England at youth level (he has scored seven goals in 13 appearances for England under-21s). At this rate, all three national sides will be keen to secure his commitment.

Not so long ago, it seemed as if Balogun would be leaving Arsenal on a permanent basis, for free. His previous contract expired in the summer of 2021 and an agreement on new terms was only reached in late April that year, just a few weeks before Balogun became a free agent.

Arsenal will be grateful they tied him down on a long-term deal, because they now find themselves with yet another of Europe’s most promising youngsters on their hands. Can Balogun one day thrive in the same Arsenal team as the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba? It is too early to say, but his mastery of French football certainly suggests he is moving in the right direction.