He was born in New York City to Nigerian parents but was raised in England. Folarin Balogun’s breakout season has made him a sensation in France – and again a subject of a three-way battle to secure his allegiance.Arsenal striker, who is playing on loan at Ligue 1 club Reims, has experience playing for the England Under-21 team but is yet to decide which country he’ll represent in the future. He gave us an indication, though.##NAJAVA_MECA_7125749##US men’s national team interim manager Anthony Hudson confirmed he held talks with Balogun in Florida this week in a bid to convince the 21-year-old forward to play for the country of his birth. Efforts made by Hudson and US men’s national team officials represent US Soccer’s desire to secure further dual-national talents.”As I’ve said before, we’ve had dialogue. We’ve spoken to Folarin. He’s out here having a bit of a break and then some training and we’ve had some discussions. I think it’s been good because it’s been an opportunity for us just to share about our program and who we are, and what we do. I hope we speak to him again. It’s been good, and I know a few of the guys have spoken to him as well.”🇺🇸 Arsenal/Reims striker Folarin Balogun is continuing his America tour! ♻️ This is amidst strong rumours he will switch his international allegiance from England to USA. pic.twitter.com/pSQ47XQLFj— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 24, 2023 Only Kylian Mbappe and Jonathan David have scored more goals than Balogun in the French top flight this season. His 17 goals in 27 appearances impressed England U21 manager Lee Carsley. However, the youngster flew out to the USA without indicating anything to Carsley. “You can’t twist someone’s arm to play for England. You know we can only make him feel as welcome as we can. We rate him highly. We’ve supported him when things weren’t great. We called him into the 21s when he was playing for Arsenal’s Under-23s because I knew what potential he had.”
