Twenty-one matches, 51 points, and six points lead at the top of the table. Arsenal are having the time of their life as they have been by far the best team at the top of the Premier League. One of the areas where they made a massive improvement is the defence. In the current season, the team has conceded 18 goals, the second-best in the league. One of the primary reasons for such an improvement has been the addition of William Saliba, who rose to fame during his spell in Ligue 1 in 2021-22. And this season, Folarin Balogun is exactly repeating Saliba’s antics in Ligue 1.
Whenever a player is sent on loan to a club, the expectation of the parent club is that the player gets adequate minutes and improves as a player. However, Balogun has gone beyond that and become one of the best players for Reims and the entire Ligue 1.
His performances are of the level that he is expected from a player who is the best player on his team and has been acquired for a hefty fee. However, Balogun has been a loan signing, making his rise one of the best stories in football this season.
Folarin Balogun career stats
Folarin Jerry Balogun is a product of the Arsenal academy that, in recent years, has produced brilliant talents such as Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe. He first came to notice in the 2017-18 season, where he scored 25 goals and provided four assists in 19 games for the under-18s. The following season he scored ten goals and provided four assists in 15 games and was handed his senior team debut a year later in the Europa League against Molde.
However, it has been the current season where he has shown that he belongs to the top level. With 15 goals to his name, Balogun is the top scorer in Ligue 1, ahead of players such as Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi.
What has been more impressive is that these numbers have come for a Reims side, who are currently in 10th. In fact, the team has scored a total of 26 goals, of which 15 have been scored by Balogun, emphasising how important he has been to his team’s chances.
Analysing his stats from fbref, it’s easy to see that Falogun is a beast around the attacking third and penalty area. He ranks among the top five percentile of strikers across various attacking metrics. This includes goals, shots, shots on target, and non-penalty expected goals.
According to Soccerment, Balogun has had 32 shots on target, of which 15 have gone in the net, giving a deadly accuracy of 57.69 per cent, one of the best…
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