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Folarin Balogun: Balogone

Is he better than Lacazette?


  • Total voters
    113

Hunta

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
1660256414712.png

With Willock, Smith Rowe, Nelson and Nketiah promoted and Saka and John-Jules likely to miss a lot of academy games this season I think Balogun will be the one to watch.

u23 stats so far for the 18yr old:

Played: 2
Goals: 3
Assists: 1
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
I think Balogun is more talented than Nketiah. Now that Xavier Amaechi is gone, I will rank him as our most athletic prospect coming up. He is just so explosive compared to the rest of the forward prospects coming up. His technique is also underrated.
 

Aevi

Hale End FC
Moderator
With Willock, Smith Rowe, Nelson and Nketiah promoted and Saka and John-Jules likely to miss a lot of academy games this season I think Balogun will be the one to watch.

u23 stats so far for the 18yr old:

Played: 2
Goals: 3
Assists: 1
Not to take too much away from him, but those three goals were a hattrick of penalties right?
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
THE SECRET SCOUT: Folarin Balogun could persuade Arsenal to consider moving on star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before long... the pacey youngster is one for the future


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...rsuade-Arsenal-Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyang.html
Bit premature for that kind of talk but Balogun is potentially very, very exciting. A player who is developing extremely well so far, with his pace, ball-carrying and lethal finishing anywhere within 20 yards of goal. I actually think he may be a bigger prospect than Nketiah was at the same age - Nketiah has worked really hard to develop his all-round game to where it is now compared to his earlier days but Balogun just seems to have the edge in terms of his ability to dribble.

One thing is for sure though. Look beyond Auba and Laca and we are still STACKED with talent at CF. Martinelli, Nketiah, John-Jules and Balogun is a great pool to pick from and likely we will have to shed one or two of them at some point. Martinelli looks a lock at the moment, so it's a fight between Nketiah, John-Jules and Balogun and people seem to be most excited about Balogun. I think they all have a chance to stake a claim to be honest, and it will be very intriguing to see who comes out on top.
 

Slartibartfast

CIES Loyalist
One thing is for sure though. Look beyond Auba and Laca and we are still STACKED with talent at CF. Martinelli, Nketiah, John-Jules and Balogun is a great pool to pick from and likely we will have to shed one or two of them at some point. Martinelli looks a lock at the moment, so it's a fight between Nketiah, John-Jules and Balogun and people seem to be most excited about Balogun. I think they all have a chance to stake a claim to be honest, and it will be very intriguing to see who comes out on top.

Yep. The scout who did the piece made the same point about Arsenal's wealth of young strikers. I think that's why he indicated it wouldn't be a surprise to see Arsenal move Aubameyang in the summer. The scout believes he would benefit now from going out on loan to get regular competitive football. The headline is a bit misleading because it makes it sound like the scout thinks Balogun is ready to replace Aubameyang now, which obviously he's not.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Yep. The scout who did the piece made the same point about Arsenal's wealth of young strikers. I think that's why he indicated it wouldn't be a surprise to see Arsenal move Aubameyang in the summer. The scout believes he would benefit now from going out on loan to get regular competitive football. The headline is a bit misleading because it makes it sound like the scout thinks Balogun is ready to replace Aubameyang now, which obviously he's not.
Agree completely, it's Daily Mail :lol: - I expect a bit of sensationalism so that was a little on the nose. I agree that Balogun could probably go on loan right now as I don't think he has anything to gain from staying in the PL2. There's a few players there who should also be getting proper matches aswell. Burton and Smith spring to mind (Olayinka getting a move before them is interesting).

But I think Balogun could quite easily join a League One or even Championship team and tear the house down there. Brentford tried to buy him last week for £5m!
 

Sniper Mik

Not a Closet Sp**s Fan
Agree completely, it's Daily Mail :lol: - I expect a bit of sensationalism so that was a little on the nose. I agree that Balogun could probably go on loan right now as I don't think he has anything to gain from staying in the PL2. There's a few players there who should also be getting proper matches aswell. Burton and Smith spring to mind (Olayinka getting a move before them is interesting).

But I think Balogun could quite easily join a League One or even Championship team and tear the house down there. Brentford tried to buy him last week for £5m!
Has he been offered a new contract? When does it run out?
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Has he been offered a new contract? When does it run out?
As far as I know, his deal runs out next summer. He signed the typical 2 year pro deal that most of the kids sign. So far, the only kid who's signed anything longer than that is Miguel Azeez, whom the club went as far as tying to a 5 year deal!

I expect they're furiously negotiating with him now to get him to sign, as interest in him is already high and he may feel like he can play first team games already.
 

Sniper Mik

Not a Closet Sp**s Fan
As far as I know, his deal runs out next summer. He signed the typical 2 year pro deal that most of the kids sign. So far, the only kid who's signed anything longer than that is Miguel Azeez, whom the club went as far as tying to a 5 year deal!

I expect they're furiously negotiating with him now to get him to sign, as interest in him is already high and he may feel like he can play first team games already.

Should we be worried about this becoming a bit of a trend? Feels like we've let a few big ones slip through our fingers.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Should we be worried about this becoming a bit of a trend? Feels like we've let a few big ones slip through our fingers.
We should only be worried if:

1. We stop producing these types of talents regularly, which I expect to not only continue but we will actually produce better as our coaching at that level improves even further. There's been more of a concerted effort to turn Hale End into a regular producer of first team quality players.

2. We stop providing a pathway into the first team for them. At the moment, we're in a decent spot as we are actually providing a number of young players with plenty of opportunities to play. Some may still feel blocked (Amaechi, Dasilva etc) but on the whole we're doing OK.

I think while it would be wholly unfortunate to lose Balogun (I don't think that's terribly likely at this stage), it's the sort of thing we can't prevent from happening from time to time. Players will get sold on other opportunities out there, and they'll also want to prove early on that they are ready for first team football.
 

Hunta

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Updating this thread as none of you guys did!

At u23 level this season:

15 games
10 goals
4 assists

For comparison, Nketiah at u23 level over a 3 year spell:

36 games
27 goals
8 assists

I think Balogun is the better talent personally, doesn’t have the likes of Nelson, Willock or Smith Rowe supplying him either. In fact without Saka, John-Jules and Amaechi there as well he’s basically on his own.
 
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TromsoGooner

Obsessed With Looking for Eric
It's a start - still would be pleasantly surprised if he signs on but I'm hoping. Leaves us very top heavy but Balogun's talent could still be a real game changer.
If he doesn`t sign and leaves when his contract expires, how big will our compensation be? Substantial or just peanuts?
 

DanDare

Emoji Merchant and Believer-In-Chief
Trusted ⭐

Player:Saliba
He's very promising? Seems to score loads, wonder if he has a better chance than Eddie.

 
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