Arsenal Loanee Folarin Balogun Loving Life at Reims

Folarin Balogun's scintillating form on loan at Reims has certainly turned heads across European football, as the Arsenal-owned sensation has taken Ligue 1 by storm.

Having already scored 19 goals in 32 appearances for Reims, which is more than any other player aged 21 or under in Europe's top five leagues, this accentuates how electric he's been.

Learning all the time on and off the field and relishing playing week in, and week out against elite competition, the former Middlesbrough loanee's relishing the opportunity to play in France.

Working under young managerial hotshot Will Still has also been another important figure towards his incredible impact. "Yeah, I mean Will [Still] is fantastic. I couldn't have asked for anything better coming out here. As you said he speaks English just as good as if I were back home, and he speaks French just as good as anyone here, so it's a pleasure to have him. He's really, really good with all the players, he can also speak I think it's Flemish with the Dutch guys. So it's phenomenal. I can't praise him anymore," he told the Ligue 1 Show.

"Will's a very young manager and when I first came here he was the assistant. When Oscar Garcia left he stepped up to be the head coach, and he's taken that role with so much ease, and he's made it look so comfortable like he's been doing it forever. He's keeping me on my toes every day and I know I can't take a break and I've just got to keep the intensity.

"He really encourages me not to relax, you know. He thinks he sees potential in me and he wants me to achieve it. So he just wants me to be relentless and as efficient as possible."

Possessing blistering pace and a real master at exploiting spaces in behind, this has been a vital component towards his success. So alert to vacant spaces, if an opponent is ball watching or preoccupied, this, in combination with his subtle adjustments to expose opponents on their blindside and curve his runs, has amplified his threat.

Doing a superb job of gaining separation prior to embarking on his runs, this allows him to gain momentum and a dynamic advantage over his back-to-goal facing foes to maximize his menace.

Offering himself as a fantastic outlet for teammates and as a real asset to make room for others by dragging out opponents, his capacity to horizontally and vertically stretch backlines is a huge weapon for high-flying Reims.

The 21-year-old's timing and angling of his runs also see him take up quality positions inside the box to be a viable option for crosses, cutbacks, through balls and to get on the end of combination play or rebounds.

Despite his shot maps below underlining that he takes some low percentage shots, the positives far outweigh the negatives for the ever-improving youngster.

“He’s got such natural quality and finishing ability that it’s just about trying to stretch him and give him high-quality, position-specific, high-volume repetition sessions," Saul Isaksson-Hurst, who recently did some 1v1 coaching with him, explained to The Athletic.

Confident, able to use both feet and doing a brilliant job of converting his chances overall, it's little wonder why there's so much noise around him.

Moreover, the fact the New York-born talent, who later moved to England when he was a boy, is eligible to play for England, Nigeria and the United States at international level has only added to the conversation surrounding him, as each will be furiously fighting to convince him to play for them.

Coming on in leaps and bounds during his loan in Ligue 1, a further testament to his success comes from the fact he currently sits fourth in the league scoring charts ahead of stars like Lionel Messi and Wissam Ben Yedder and behind only Jonathan David, Kylian Mbappe and former Gunners forward Alexandre Lacazette.

Disciplined, dedicated to progressing his game and already so mature due to his experiences, expect the man who idolizes Mbappe, Thierry Henry and the Brazilian Ronaldo to keep getting better in time.

Set to return to Arsenal at the resumption of the season, it'll be fascinating to see what role he plays for the Gunners next campaign or if another club tries to snap him up for big money.

For now, though, his sole focus will be on continuing his remarkable form in France, where he's forcing many teams across Europe to stand up and take notice courtesy of his exceptional output at Reims.