I think that at this point in the Euro season, maybe 75% done, a lot of guys probably legitimately have minor injury issues that they're playing through for their clubs. Maybe Balogun has such an injury and legitimately decided he didn't want to push things by playing during the international break. We saw that with Tillman, Sargent, and CCV. On the other hand, since it is so common for guys to have minor injury issues at this point, it's a convenient excuse to get out of the youth camp and take some time to reconsider his options.
In any case a switch would take time to process as well. Even if he showed up for camp he couldn't play. He'd also had to have been on our provisional list (which is possible) for the club to be required to release him.
Once submitted, it only takes about a week to process, though that wouldn't help if it hasn't been sent to FIFA yet.
I don't believe he'd be around the team this week. If he filed before the rosters came out... why not just be on our roster to begin with? If he filed since snubbed for the England senior team, why show up for the U21 team? Why show up to the U21 team at all if you were filing to switch? I hope he does switch but this doesn't add up to him being in Orlando for me. I'd like to be wrong though.
It doesn't really add up, because playing for the U21s wouldn't have changed anything for him. He's already provisionally cap-tied to England. It really doesn't make sense for England to say he's injured, and then for him to show up at USMNT camp. They wouldn't have said he's injured. That would make them look silly. He's probably carrying a small injury, and his club doesn't want to risk him. LIke the U20 level with the US, no club ever has to release a player for a UEFA U21 camp. But hey, I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong.
If it’s not actually an injury (which it could still be), it’s possible to the thing that led him to withdraw was the Rashford/Mount injuries and not being called in as a replacement. It’s pretty clear he feels like he deserves a call up.
Sure, but then there probably isn't enough time for the switch to go through and for him to make transatlantic flights to not play probably wouldn't sit well with his club. Unless they can expedite the request?
The switch won’t happen in time unless he’s already filed the paperwork, which is unlikely. But he could in theory come to camp and spend a few days with the team to test things out. He’d probably have to have the club on board, but he’d also probably not stay for the whole window.
Good lord, people are tweeting flight data from London to Orlando flights, and taking pictures of guys that might be Balogun in Orlando International Airport. This is going nuts. It's gonna be hilarious if he's just like, hanging out in London, getting a pint, chillin with other injured buddies (and yep, I know at best, all he could do is basically hang out (I guess he could train, maybe? I have no idea if the rules also govern training). Haven't seen people go this crazy since Dest four years ago, and this is crazier. Funny to compare it to crickets, and WTF?!?! shock at the Tillman announcement 10 months ago.
I'd be happy for Balogun to commit, but I will be less happy as time passes. If he comes over soon, great. We could use a scorer and he's a better option than anyone else we have right now. If he hems and haws until a year before the cup and guys like Pepi, Dike, Sargent or others work hard and score goals and then get cast aside at the last second, I will be considerably less happy.
I can understand it, but at the end of the day, the reality of sports is generally sitting, most talented best performing guy gets the gig, period. It's life. Work hard all you want, be a great guy all you want, but if there's a better guy who walks in the door at any time, generally speaking, they then get the gig. It just is what it is. Balogun is better than all those guys from what I can see, and I love Pepi, and Dike and Sargent in particular, and Wright and Pefok to degrees (even Ferreira, just not as a striker). Balogun is the best option. I'm still highly skeptical, for now. Euro '24 has to be pretty attractive, if he did actually fly to camp, that would be absolutely nuts.
I think if shows up a week before the World Cup and expects to be the starter that’s one thing. But if he gets on board earlier in the cycle I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal. Just like it wasn’t with Dest, Musah, etc.
One of the biggest unknown variables about Balogun is that can he do numbers in the EPL and breakthrough arsenal. Last time he tries it don’t go too well. If he can’t then who knows what would happen to him?
True, and I know it was a year ago and a small sample size, but we have 2 guys that are not that much older than him, that have been clearly better in the Championship too. To be fair, I think that had a lot to do with how Middleborough played, but there is a real chance he commits and is not good enough. I think he ultimately would be our number 1 and will raise the floor more so than the ceiling. We'll see.
USMNT fans: Wow, Dest is ours! Dest plays in Barca!!! Oh oh Araujo is lost! But no big deal. We have plenty in RB. Ah? Dest is out of Barca, but Araujo is in the Barca?!! (Maybe in the future) Zandija is ours! He maybe go to Barca.
It might be a situation where is just going to step his big toe in the waters to see if he wants to commit or not. Get a feel for the team. See if he’s ready or not. In other words, even if he shows up, he still could back out and say, I confirmed that I want to play England. But how likely would that be?
People are thinking that his actually going to train if he goes. If he ever goes it's mostly that he going to talk to staff, and players and feel things around before he commits. Musah did this before he committed.
I think its more likely that Balogun is sold up the chain to a bigger club than Reims..............than he's actually given a chance at Arsenal. But who knows? Arteta has said they'll make decisions about these players when the season is over. There have been rumors lately of big clubs in Italy like the Milan clubs coming in for Folarin. I think we can all agree that being at a club outside of England at least helps us a little bit. Southgate has called up Abraham of Roma this past calendar year, though.
I think Balogun is likely a better option at Arsenal than Nketiah who has gotten minutes, and some starts in the wake of Jesus getting injured. But Arsenal signed Trossard who was previously a winger and have been playing him through the middle over Nketiah so being better than Nketiah may still not be good enough for many minutes. He'd likely be behind Trossard who has done well and Jesus at Arsenal. He'd still be far and away our best striker immediately, but not sure he's going to be a big player at Arsenal in the short term.
Its early. US-Israel dual-national. U.S. teenager Yuval Ranon is making a name for himself as one of the top scorers in the Bundesliga's U-17 division with Werder Bremenhttps://t.co/gnALDicQ0Y— SoccerWire (@TheSoccerWire) March 22, 2023
Cool factoid about Ben Lederman, who is potentially about to be cap-tied to Poland. An amazing fact I didn’t realize, California native Ben Lederman will become the first Jewish player to represent Poland since World War 2 and the Holocaust https://t.co/vdij4s2uw5— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 21, 2023