Mbappe, Neymar, Balogun Folarin Balogun becomes the highest scoring u21s player in Europe’s top five leagues after his brace this evening.Also Kylian Mbappe & Neymar are the only players to have scored more goals than him in Ligue One so far this season…Keep it up, @balogun!🤩 #afc pic.twitter.com/sGCsfZunay— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) December 29, 2022
Don’t know. At small forward, you have Saka, Foden, Rashford, Sterling, Grelish, Sancho, etc. Of course big forward, you have Kane, Abraham and a few of them. I think the one they are regret to get away are Musah and Musiala.
Kane is already 29 (knocking on 33 at the next WC). Abraham does not seem to be trusted by England. Grealish is MASSIVELY overrated. Sterling is on the decline, overall. Sancho does not seem to be developing much to his game at this point. Saka, Foden, and Rashford, I will give you. We will see how things turn out at this point.
No one even mentioned Ivan Toney (26), Eddie Nketiah (23) who is scoring goals for Arsenal while Balogun is an Arsenal player on loan, guys from their World Cup roster like James Maddison and Callum Wilson… Arsenal fans in the replies are not even impressed by Balogun being only behind Messi and Mbappe because he’s tied with Alexandre Lacazette who they don’t consider good enough. Most league goals scored by U21 players in Europe's top seven divisions this season:◉ 10 - Folarin Balogun◎ 9 - Gonçalo Ramos◎ 9 - Jamal Musiala◎ 8 - Brian Brobbey◎ 8 - Xavi Simons◎ 7 - Elye WahiThe Arsenal loanee is leading the way. 🔫 pic.twitter.com/QeuptVZTNV— Squawka (@Squawka) December 30, 2022
We know from Balogun's own comments where his preferences lie. I start from there. WIth him we've gotten the gist for a while now. We need him to be good, but not good enough that his #1 choice is interested. We're getting to the point where they SHOULD be. I agree that he'll probably be with the England U21s this spring at the U21 European Championships, and not the senior team. When we look at the forwards called up over the past calendar year for England U21s, Balogun is now far and away the best performer. For those that watch Leeds due to the Americans there, both Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood have been called up to the England U21s this year. Plenty of opportunities to bring Balogun into low-risk cap-tying events with the senior team over the next couple of years with the Nations League, Euro qualifying, etc. Heck, this summer they'll be playing Euro qualifiers against the likes of Malta, North Macedonia, Ukraine, etc. He doesn't have to start. You've just gotta bring him into the squad at first like we did with Musah at the Nations League. [Don't get me wrong. I want the USSF to be aggressive here and continue trying to call him in. I'm just increasingly pessimistic. And to be fair, Balogun's connection to the states is pretty thin. He was born in the states to non-American parents, and moved to England before the age of 2. So he's eligible, but like Jonathan David.................but not much else. People seem to be banking on his friendship with Musah. As if he isn't also friends with Saka.]
For me, I am rather to wait for Pepi to flourish in Eredivisie or for Vasquez moves to Belgium’s Standard Liegue.
Ben Cremaschi of Inter Miami was at Argentina's U20 camp, but in the end not selected for the U20 CONMEBOL Championships roster. Ben attended the US U20 camp that was held at the same time as the USMNT fitness camp before the World Cup. On the youth forum, some rank him as the top 2005 in the country. So bullet dodged for now at least. He's one one homegrown to really keep an eye on as the MLS season starts. 1607149311573245952 is not a valid tweet id
I wrote him off last fall. I fully expect the fed to recruit like hell to try to land him but when we didn’t get him pre-cup, as a fan w/anxiety issues, the last thing I need is to think we have a chance only to see it squelched. The most likely read is he wants to see if he can make England for Euro 24. If not, we have a chance what w/Copa America and a home WC but I 100% believe he’s 1.England 2. USA and as such I’m letting it go.
Just like when we tried to recruit Jordan Pefok when he was in French U-21 setup and tried to make Les Blues. Finally he came to us but didn’t make WC roster.
I do not know much about Cremaschi but I’ll say this much. This generation of Sub 20 players is one of the best in a long-long time in Argentina(At least on paper). Maybe we have to go back to the 05-07 generation, and there might be even more than those generations(Of course, excluding Messi and Kun). It is loaded with dynamic wingers, and midfielders. Moreover, the European standouts, with the likes of Garnacho(Man United) Mati Soulé (Juve) Luka Romero (Lazio) and the Carboni Bros(Inter Milan) were not even permitted to go or they would be at this camp. Nico Paz of Real Madrid received the okay. They will be permitted to go during the Sub 20 World Cup, just not the qualifiers. Therefore, it will be very tough to make this team. I’m sure he’ll want to play for Argentina, and could just hold out, particularly after what has occurred over the last two weeks or so. Every young Argentine who sees Messi and this group as heroes, and they want to experience this glory themselves. He could very likely continue to turn down calls from the US and wait until he does not want to wait any longer. Cremaschi is still in Argentina and the final list will be put out on the 5th of January.
Worth noting that Cremaschi was born in 2005, and thus really on the young side for this U20 team. He's eligible for the NEXT U20 cycle. He didn't make the US U20 CONCACAF Championships either. On top of that, he's yet to play a first team game in MLS. There have been a bunch of Argentines at Inter Miami over the last several years. Notably Gonzalo and Federico Higuain, of course. It wouldn't take much for Gonzalo to call Javier Mascherano and say "hey, there's a young Argentina-eligible player here that I think you should check out." There are also Argentines on the coaching staff, like Sebastian Saja. One suspects that this was more of a scouting/recruiting camp in the eyes of the Argentine staff. One for the future if he works out. Plus, nothing these kids are doing here is permanently cap-tying. Kids at this age should be exploring their options.
The AFA has started a scouting report of kids who are a part of the diaspora. There are 400 kids they have located and 20% or so will be given a further look. Many Argentines left the country in the early 2000s because of the economy issues and settled in Europe and North America. Those who left had children born and raised in those countries. Or their father was playing abroad and were born in those nation’s, i.e., Nicolas Paz and Luka Romero’s father’s. So, in essence, our scouting is becoming more extensive. Here is an article about it(It is in Spanish). https://www.lanacion.com.ar/deporte...a-otra-federacion-nid14032022/?outputType=amp
I hope our Fed has an aggressive sophisticated system for going after Mexican-American and other Latin Am dual nationals. That is a big number and we can’t afford to get that wrong.
I believe he stated that he has siblings in NY that he visits regularly. He likes NY. He just likes London better. You never know what may happen with this kid.
The next friendlies we schedule in Europe will be the time to bring in Balogun. Just let him get to know the guys. Similar to Musah's callup in November 2020, when he played against Wales and Panama. Yunus committed five months later. March 15 2021, which one day will become a national holiday.
This is for the 2022 calendar year not just this current season 🥂 https://t.co/GxOtmkeA9v pic.twitter.com/TY5vbDiHUI— Squawka (@Squawka) January 1, 2023
I'm sure the USSF/USMNT staff have been trying. I suspect they were trying last cycle. They'll keep trying until Folarin has made a decision. People act like "oh yeah, we'll just invite him to the spring camp. That's the time to incorporate him"...........as if that'll do it. We could be 3rd choice for all i know because he hasn't ruled out Nigeria. The only real reason people seem confident about it is because he's friends with Musah. As if he isn't friends with a bunch of the England players like Saka. He's provisionally cap-tied to England. Why on Earth would he make the switch to the US program right now before the Euro U21 Championships? I don't get it. And by the way, we apparently no longer have Gregg Saban doing the dual-national recruiting. That's the one thing we can all agree Gregg was good at. Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun breaks silence on his international future amid England decision - football.london Speaking to BBC, Balogun said: "I haven't heard anything from Nigeria, but I'm open to anything because Nigeria is very close to my heart. "My family's from there. I always have love for Nigeria. That's a conversation that I need to have with people around me, my agent and obviously my family.
I get it, but.........these were really tenuous cases. Kind of like Balogun. Jonathan David was born in the US to non-American parents. They left the states when he was 3 months old. His connection to the US is virtually nonexistent. At least Balogun made it to 2 years old. Cajuste, under the old rules, wasn't eligible for the USMNT. He actually met zero of the FIFA eligibility requirements. 0 for 4. 1) that the player was born in that country, or 2) that either of the player’s parents were born in that country, or 3) the player has a grandparent born in that country, or 4) the player has lived in that country continuously for at least two years. The rules changed, but he was cap-tied by the time they changed I believe.................. [The USMNT did apparently contact him anyway. And Jens did express an interest. But am I supposed to pine for players that aren't eligible? To have #dualnationalpanic about a non-eligible player?]
Some good news on the dual-national from for this upcoming U17 camp. Getting NYCFC homegrown McFarlane back in camp is an important one. Many really like San Jose homegrown Cruz Medina. Notable dual-nat absences too. The two Barcelona kids, but maybe they weren't released. Official Roster For The USYNT Training Camp In Florida!!! pic.twitter.com/HI2dv5zArd— Youth Soccer Central (@yscentral) January 2, 2023 The US U17 roster leak includes some dual-nat panic prospects.Christian McFarlane: '07, capped by England U16Santi Morales: '07, next big Argentinean-American from Inter MiamiAiden Harangi: capped by Hungary U17Cruz Medina: in contact with FMFNoahkai Banks: German-American— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) January 2, 2023