The New York-born dual-national is finding form at the club level – and now gets a fresh start under Mauricio Pochettino
In December 2022, you could have had your fair guess as to who the top scorer in Ligue 1 was. Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar would certainly have been good shouts – then all playing for Paris Saint-Germain. Wissam Ben Yedder, then of Monaco, could also be in the mix. The same goes for Alex Lacazette, Jonathan David and Lois Openda.
But the real answer? An Arsenal outcast who admitted that he would be lucky to hit double digits at the start of the season.
That forward was Folarin Balogun, and he had found the net a remarkable 14 times in the first half of the season, leading the Golden Boot charge despite playing for mid-table Reims – a team more likely to struggle through a relegation scrap than push towards European places.
It was a remarkable story in a league that otherwise lacked them. Here was a striker, forced out of the England picture, bounced out of Arsenal, and cast into relative French irrelevance, putting his name on the map. He finished the campaign with 21 goals in the league, and it was largely assumed that he would kick on from there.
Three years later, Balogun, now a fully-fledged U.S. international, find himself walking a tightrope to make the USMNT squad in the 2026 World Cup. He certainly isn't guaranteed to start. But in a shifting landscape, that could yet change, too.
Balogun has been named in Mauricio Pochettino's September camp, and, for the first time, will get a chance to strut his stuff under the U.S. manager. What seemed a path to stardom is now an opportunity for a redemption arc.
Getty ImagesHopes for the future
It became pretty clear, pretty quickly, that Balogun shouldn't be playing for Reims. He was too good for mid-table football, and needed to be in a side pushing for Europe. Champions League standard wouldn't have flattered the then-22-year-old. However, Arsenal made it clear that there was no place for him in their first team.
Balogun insisted that he be sold. There were multiple suitors, but the Gunners flipped him to Monaco for a fee that could rise to almost $50 million if the right add on clauses were hit.
That same summer, Balogun was in the midst of deciding which country he might represent. With Harry Kane as the clear No. 9 in England's ranks, there was little chance he would earn any time for then-manager Gareth Southgate. Balogun's identity – as international football approaches these things – had always been a bit complex. He had represented both England and the U.S. at a youth level, and also held Nigerian eligibility.
If the England door closed, there were options. His international future became a source of speculation. There were videos circulating on social media of a shadowy figure training in Florida. Rumors ran rampant. It became clear that Balogun was, at the very least, flirting with the U.S.
It became official in summer 2023, when Gregg Berhalter named him to a squad. All the pieces were in place.
AdvertisementGettyMonaco and disappointment
Monaco already had striking options. Ben Yedder, then 33 and hampered by off-field problems, was still their captain and best goalscorer. Balogun was, in the French club's eyes, one for the future. And he played like a raw talent still finding his feet.
It didn't get off to a great start. Balogun's first real involvement as a Monaco player was to get booked (correctly) for diving (badly.) He found the net against Lorient, but followed that by missing two penalties in a 1-0 defeat five days later in his first start for the club.
The underlying numbers weren't bad, though. Balogun was in and out of the starting XI – a prospect always difficult to navigate for a No. 9. He managed 0.64 goals and assists per 90 minutes, an agreeable mark – and slightly behind that of Yedder, who played 600 more.
He slightly underperformed his expected goals, but was otherwise clinical in the chances he did get – penalty misses notwithstanding. There was something to work with here – at the very least.
Getty Images SportCopa America offers hope
The 2024 Copa America, meanwhile, showed promise of what Balogun could yet be as a footballer. It was a disastrous campaign for the U.S., overall, as the team failed to advance out of the group on home soil. Very few players came out of it looking good, and the tournament failure eventually cost Berhalter his job, and led to Pochettino's hiring.
Balogun, though, could hold his head high. He played in all three group games, and scored in two of them.
More broadly, that run continued what had become an agreeable trend for the USMNT No. 9. He scored in the Nations League Final in 2023. He chipped in elsewhere. Five goals for the USMNT is not enough for any striker of any quality (just ask Josh Sargent).
Yet Balogun's overall skillset – the ability the run in behind, the raw physicality, the clinical nature in front of goal – make him a threat simply by presence alone. Berhalter bought into that concept. Would Pochettino?
AFPInjuries, injuries, injuries
Meanwhile, back at Monaco, things were starting to look up. Balogun managed seven goals in 29 Ligue 1 appearances, mostly in a backup role in 2023. Monaco released Yedder after the forward. The club had finished second in Ligue 1, and were set to play in the revamped edition of the Champions League.
Their transfer activity – or lack thereof – suggested that Balogun was entrusted with the role of being the main man. Nigerian No. 9 George Ilenikhena was brought in from Antwerp of the Belgian league, but in a largely cut-price deal. Monaco didn't have an established goalscorer. They believed that Balogun could become one.
But an inability to stay on the pitch hampered that aim. He found the net twice in September 2024, but then – right when he was rounding into form – dislocated his shoulder in a Ligue 1 fixture. The club elected for him to undergo surgery. Balogun hardly got a kick by the time he had recovered, and finished the league season with just four goals in 10 starts.
Monaco, meanwhile, invested in promising forward Mika Biereth, another London-born dual national, who showed promise through the middle. He now plays for the Danish national team, and bagged 13 in 16 games to finish the Ligue 1 campaign. Balogun was under pressure. He still is.
