Last week, Folarin Balogun opened up on the challenge Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had set for him before the Gunners youngster embarked on a loan move to Ligue 1 outfit Stade de Reims during the summer transfer window.
“Mikel just wanted me to develop as a man,” Balogun told The Independent. “By moving abroad, I’m starting to learn what he meant by that. It doesn’t just mean on the pitch but also off the pitch.
“By the time I go back, I’ll be in a better place to compete than I was before I left.”
Improving your mindset, of course, is only part of the battle. The other, is for Balogun to prove that he can be relied upon to score goals at senior level. That he can make the step up from reserve-team talisman to first-team difference-maker.
It’s a test he is currently passing with flying colours. 
FOLARIN BALOGUN CAN’T STOP SCORING SINCE LEAVING ARSENAL ON LOAN
Five goals already in Ligue 1; only Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lorient’s Terem Moffi have found the net more regularly than Balogun in France’s top flight. A trademark predatory finish during England’s 3-1 victory over Germany’s U21s this week, meanwhile, means the New York-born goal-machine has now scored seven times in his last seven starts for club and country.
Balogun, he suggests, might have found the final missing piece in his jigsaw.
“He was missing something; his finishing,” Henry adds of a man who joined Arsenal’s academy all the way back in 2008. “He’s now starting to score goals regularly and I’m happy about that.”
Perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid to Balogun is no one at Reims is talking about Hugo Ekitike anymore. In fact, he’s already halfway to matching his tally from Ekitike’s final campaign at the Stade Auguste Delaune prior to that £30 million move to Paris Saint-Germain.
“He’s a player with potential; quick and opportunistic,” adds Reims director Mathieu Lacour. “We have been following him for over two years.”
One things for sure; the wait has certainly been worth it for Reims.
