Folarin Balogun

Folarin Jerry Balogun (born July 3, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Monaco and the United States national team.

A Hale's End academy prospect of Arsenal, Balogun was promoted to the first team in 2020 and featured sparingly for the club, later going on loan to EFL Championship side Middlesbrough in 2022. In the following season, Balogun made his breakthrough in a loan to Ligue 1 side Reims, where he scored 21 goals in 37 appearances to be the French league's fourth top scorer of the season. In August 2023 Balogun left Arsenal and signed with Monaco for €40 million (£34m/€43m).

Balogun represented both the United States and England at the youth international level. In May 2023, he made the decision to play for the United States senior national team. He made his debut in June 2023, winning the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League and scoring his first goal in the final.

Early life
Balogun was born in New York City, and emigrated to England when he was two years old, growing up in London. His parents were born in Nigeria. Balogun is often referred to by his nickname of 'Flo', coined for him in his years at Arsenal's Hale End academy.

Early career
Balogun joined Arsenal at the age of eight, after being scouted while playing for his previous Sunday League side, Aldersbrook. Before trialling with Arsenal, he had trialled with North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and nearly signed for them.

In 2017, he was an integral part of Trevor Bumstead's Arsenal U16 side that won the Liam Brady Cup, beating Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Juventus respectively.

He signed a professional contract in February 2019.

In July 2020, after failing to agree a new contract with Arsenal, he was linked with a transfer away from the club, including a proposed £8 million move to Brentford.

2020–22: Senior team debut and Middlesbrough loan
He made his senior debut in the Europa League on October 29, 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute, in a group stage match against Dundalk.

He scored his first senior goal on November 26, 2020, in a Europa League group stage match against Molde.

On April 26, 2021, Balogun signed a new long-term contract with the club.

Balogun made his Premier League debut in a 2–0 loss against newly promoted Brentford on August 13, 2021.

On January 12, 2022, he joined EFL Championship club Middlesbrough on a loan deal until the end of the season.

2022–23: Loan to Reims
In August 2022, he moved on loan to French club Reims. Balogun scored on his debut for the club on August 7, a 4–1 defeat to Marseille; fellow Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares, also on his debut, scored for Marseille in the match. On January 29, 2023, Balogun scored a late goal in stoppage time to seal a 1–1 draw away to league leaders PSG. It was his eleventh goal in Ligue 1 during the season, the most of any player aged 21 or under in Europe's top five leagues. Three days later, Balogun scored his first senior hat-trick in a 4–2 win over Lorient, his fourteenth goal of the season in Ligue 1. This made him the top scorer in Ligue 1 at that time. He finished the season with 21 goals, to be the fourth top scorer in the league.

Upon his return to Arsenal for the 2023–24 season, Balogun stated he would not leave the club again on loan. In August 2023 he was reported to have attracted interest from Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Monaco.

Monaco
On August 30, 2023, Ligue 1 side Monaco announced the signing of Balogun on a five-year contract, for a reported fee of €30 million, which could rise to €40 million with add-ons. On September 2, 2023, he played his first match for Monaco, coming on against Lens. During the match, he picked up his first yellow card for simulation after trying to win a penalty. On September 17, he scored his first league goal for Monaco, three minutes after coming off the bench in a 2–2 draw to Lorient. On September 22, he had his first start at the club, in which he missed two penalties in a 1–0 defeat against Nice.

International career
Born in the United States to Nigerian parents and raised in England, Balogun was eligible to represent any of the three nations at international level. After playing for England at the under-17 level, and appearing in the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, he accepted a call up from the United States under-18 national team in August 2018 for a training camp and a tournament in the Czech Republic. He played in all four of the United States' games in the Václav Ježek Youth Tournament and scored twice. He has also expressed interest in playing for Nigeria, although he has stated that he enjoys England's "style of play" which is "similar to Arsenal's".

In 2019, he appeared and scored for the England under-18 national team in a tournament in Dubai. In October 2020 he made an appearance for the England under-20 against Wales.

On August 27, 2021, Balogun received his first call up to the England under-21 team. On September 7, 2021, he made his England U21 debut as a substitute during the 2–0 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification win over Kosovo under-21s at Stadium MK.

In October 2022, he said he was open to playing for Nigeria.

On May 16, 2023, FIFA approved Balogun's application for a switch to represent the United States national team. He had been recruited by the United States through several meetings, which included watching the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks play in Florida. Balogun received his first call up to the United States senior squad on June 1, featuring in the squad for the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals.

On June 18, 2023, Balogun scored his first goal for the United States in their Nations League final victory over Canada.

Playing in the 2024 Copa America, Balogun scored the United States' second goal in a 2–0 win against Bolivia, and the opener in the 1–2 defeat to Panama when the U.S. was down to 10 players after a red card, winning the Man of the Match award. Following the game, Balogun, with teammates Chris Richards, Tim Weah and Weston McKennie suffered racial abuse from online trolls. CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, Monaco FC, and the U.S. Soccer Federation condemned the actions and fully supported the players.

Style of play
Balogun is known for his pace, technique, and being two-footed. Labelled a pure "number nine" or center forward, Balogun has also played as a trequartista in youth soccer, and was deployed by Chris Wilder in a second-striker role at Middlesbrough. Martin Keown compared Balogun to Arsenal's second highest ever goalscorer Ian Wright, due to his pace and intelligent movement. In his first interview for Middlesbrough, Balogun said he took inspiration from Edinson Cavani and Robert Lewandowski.

International

 * Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Balogun goal.

Honors
United States
 * CONCACAF Nations League: 2022–23, 2023–24

Individual
 * CONCACAF Nations League Finals Best XI: 2023