- 12 hours ago
Arsenal loan star Folarin Balogun up for Ligue 1 award
Folarin Balogun is a name on the lips of every Arsenal fan at present thanks to his stunning exploits in Ligue 1 on loan at Reims.
With 15 league goals this season, he finds himself fourth on the the scoring charts in France, three behind Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe.
His exploits are all the more impressive given that Reims are a team that started the season with a goal of survival.
MORE: ‘Not advanced’ - Romano provides update on Arsenal star’s future
His latest achievement is being nominated for the the UNFP Player of the Month trophy for February, awarded to the best player in Ligue 1 each month.
The other nominees are top scorer Mbappe and Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo.
What is Folarin Balogun worth?
When Balogun went to Ligue 1 in the summer, his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) was hovering just over €8 million.
Earning regular game time and scoring plenty of goals in France, though, increased his value up to €14.9m.
"𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐊𝐘'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐓" ✨
Will Still knows he's got a star on his hands with @balogun 🔥@StadeDeReims pic.twitter.com/9R4Xo5hKTY— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) March 9, 2023
Indeed, the top end of his value range is €18.6m, which is surely the minimum Arsenal would be looking to recoup for the player in the summer.
Should Balogun continue his excellent scoring form until the end of the season, it would be no surprise to see his value pushing €20m.
Assuming Gabriel Jesus stays, choosing who to keep out of he and Eddie Nketiah will be a very tough decision for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal this summer.