Folarin Balogun, following his arrival at Stade de Reims last summer, set himself a target.
“At the start of the season, we just sat down and had an honest conversation about what’s the first objective,” Reims’ much-admired head coach Will Still tells the Arsenal website of the 21-year-old Gunners loanee.
“What are we looking at doing? How far can you get? His first message was; ‘You know, Will, I want to get to 10 goals as soon as I can’.”
It was, at the time, a slightly ambitions aim. Balogun had only scored five senior goals before joining Reims after all and, during a difficult spell at Middlesbrough, found the net just three times in 20 matches.
Balogun equalled that tally in his first two starts at Reims, however. Double figures arrived before New Years’ Day. Suddenly, a target of 10 became 12. Then 15. Now? 20.
“When we got to 10 goals, then it was like; ‘Okay what’s the next step? What are we pushing on for now’?,” Still adds. “I think his next goal is 20.”
It would take a brave man to bet against Balogun breaking that particular barrier before the Ligue 1 campaign comes to an end in May. During Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Marseille – a result which brought an end to Still’s remarkable unbeaten run – Balogun hit his 17th in France’s top flight.
Only Lille’s Jonathan David and (guess who?) Kylian Mbappe have more.
Per Stats du Foot, Balogun is now the youngest player since 1956 to reach 17 goals in Ligue 1. From toiling at the Riverside to breaking a 67-year record in one of Europe’s major leagues just 12 months’ later, there has never been any doubt about Balogun’s potential but even the most optimistic Arsenal supporter would have struggled to see this coming.
“I’m so happy for him,” Mikel Arteta beams. “He’s a boy that has a really clear idea of what he wants to do with his career.
“He’s really ambitious, really committed and really brave. We discussed a lot before he made that move whether it was the right place to go and the other choices he had.
“He was so convinced. I’m really happy for him because he deserves what he’s getting.”
Balogun’s stunning form gives Arteta plenty to ponder. Does he offer the Brooklyn-born frontman a route into the first-team picture at Arsenal, enabling Balogun to compete with Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus. Or does he seize the opportunity to cash in at a time when Balogun’s price-tag is at it’s most lofty?
As problems go, however, this is quite a nice one to have.
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