Folarin Balogun at AS Monaco

I would be shocked... but will keep my fingers crossed.

 

Would love to get Balogun, just like I'd love to get Musah. And I think we have a good shot at both because we offer immediate opportunity on the NT, whereas England can only offer immediate playing time with their youth national teams.

Musah could be the first domino in what would be an incredible series of dual national commitments - Musah, then Balogun, then Malick Sanogo. If I'm understanding correctly, Musah and Balogun are familiar with each other from Arsenal's academy, and I imagine they have played together or crossed paths with England's youth teams. And all three of Musah, Balogun, and Sanogo were born in New York.

Would love to get all 3 of those talents to commit. Would be a drastic transformation of the USMNT's potential goal-scoring ability in just a year or two.

 

very interesting...the timing of this recent report is promising. If Musah and Balogun know each other...that might indicate they have both discussed joining together...

 

With U20 WC canceled:

However...no u20 WC would be great for Balogun recruitment imo. I think England’s participation in the u20 WC was a perfect spot for him to remain in their long-term plans. Likely too young for the u21 (aka u23) Euros this time around. Still eligible for that tourney next cycle.

— Daniel (@DanielSmith1022) December 24, 2020

 

Anyone know where all of the chatter that he’s headed to Liverpool originated?

 

It'd be awesome if, say, LAFC offered him the moon for a 2+2 contract with a reasonable transfer release for the last 2 years.

 

He should be rejecting such kind of offers whether are from MLS, China, or Middle East.

 

One year as the starter up top for LAFC wouldnt be a bad move. Jack Harrison, Almiron, etc played in MLS then jumped to the EPL just fine. a 2+2 deal would not be wise, though, imo

 

One year loan isn't that bad, permanent move to a lower league, especially those with retirement league (even if undeserved) image would be a disaster. But still, why? To learn from Bob? Would be moving to LASG instead of Juve a good move for Wes?

 

it took Harrison a while to find his way to the PL

 

1. My thoughts were more about recruiting the dude to the USMNT than advancing his own career.
2. Wes was already a fixture in the Schake lineup. Balogun isn't a fixture in Arsenal's lineup. In fact, he's still on the academy page!

You're leaving out the "reasonable release clause after year 2" part. I was just spitballing, but the idea was for him to start for 2 years for LAFC, learn from a wily veteran like Vela, and then get sold to Europe for a non-prohibitive fee. If he stagnates and isn't worth that fee, he has the security of 2 more years at millions of dollars.

 

Stuttgart enters the arena:

Kicker are linking Arsenal's Folarin Balogun with VfB Stuttgart. The Bundesliga club's sporting director is Sven Mislintat who knew Balogun well during his time at Arsenal. The 19 year old's contract ends this summer and yet to agree to a new deal. #AFChttps://t.co/n34XhBpDTz

— Yousef Teclab (@TeclabYousef) December 27, 2020

 

Interesting. I was wondering if the American coach of Stuttgart might ever bring some Yanks aboard...might be another interesting connection for Balogun with the US...

 

He should go to BVB and hook up with Gio.

 

You've got some talent if Mislintat wants to sign you

 

His time at Arsenal overlaps with Folarin, no?

 

We would start to become "The France of the Americas".

 

Alot of chatter about Balogun at the moment. I wrote about this on twitter, but I will not be surprised -AT ALL- if he signs with Dortmund.

It's critical to the BVB goldengoose program that they signal to the player's agents: anything Mislintat touches will come at a super premium. This strategy will crowd out Mislintat's purchasing power in the Shirt-Medium term.

The agent also represents Sancho and Arsenal are in talk about Brandt...

 

Yeah, I think it's kind of a cliche at this point that with every promising US prospect we say, "He should go to Dortmund!", but in this case, it really does seem to make sense. They'll presumably sell Haaland in the summer and need reinforcements at forward, and Balogun fits their profile of a young guy with high upside available relatively cheaply who's being slow-walked at a big club.

 

This is all assuming, Balogun doesn't sign with Arsenal.

The point I am trying to get across, is that if BVB come out of nowhere and sign him, that would signal competent game theory strategy from their management.

If BVB don't sign him and he goes to Stuttgart, I suspect their egos will bring down BVB in a matter of years (e.g favre fired after 1-5 loss to Stuttgart), while VfB will quickly eclipse them.

It's imperative, from a development point of view that Stuttgart -not- be considered an alternative for top 11 youth development.

 

That statement couldn't be more wrong. Stuttgart already is known for being an excellent youth development program. One only needs to see how many of their academy kids have been poached by Bayern, Red Bull, etc.

https://www.transfermarkt.us/vfb-stuttgart/jugendarbeit/verein/79