Arsenal may face a transfer dilemma this summer as Folarin Balogun reportedly has no interest in returning to the club if he is only going to be Mikel Arteta’s third-choice striker. Balogun has had an impressive season on loan at Ligue 1 side Reims, where he scored 15 league goals, placing him just behind Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe, who has 17. At just 21 years old, Balogun is clearly a top young talent with a promising future, and he is eager to leverage this season to demonstrate his abilities at the highest level.
According to the Times, Balogun is unwilling to return to Arsenal and accept a role as the third-choice striker behind Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. This situation presents a challenge for the Gunners, as they would prefer not to lose a player of Balogun’s caliber. However, it is difficult to envision how they could integrate him into the squad effectively. Jesus is likely to remain Arteta’s first choice, while Nketiah has had a solid season as the club’s backup center-forward. If feasible, Arsenal might consider loaning Balogun out again, although many fans will be eager to see him given a chance in the first team sooner rather than later.
In other news, Balogun recently paid tribute to Just Fontaine, who passed away on the night of February 28 to March 1 in Toulouse at the age of 89. Born on August 18, 1933, in Marrakech, Morocco, Fontaine began his career at USM Casablanca before moving to OGC Nice, where he quickly gained recognition as one of the world’s most prolific strikers. After winning the Championship with OGC Nice in 1956, he transferred to Balogun’s current club, Stade de Reims. There, he won the French top-flight title three times and the Coupe de France, and he played in the final of the 1959 European Cup.
Fontaine holds the record for the most goals scored in a single World Cup tournament, netting 13 goals in 1958. That same year, he finished with 18 goals for the French national team, setting a one-year record. During the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, he scored in every match he played, including four goals against West Germany, a hat-trick against Paraguay, and braces against both Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland, along with one goal each against Scotland and Brazil. Over his career, he scored 164 goals in 200 national league matches, including 152 goals in just 145 appearances for Stade de Reims.
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