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Loan watch: Folarin Balogun breaks 47-year-old goal record for Reims  By Ben Hart Arsenal’s loanees enjoyed a fruitful weekend across Europe. One youngster even broke a goal record which had stood for 47 years at his new club. Elsewhere, there were debut goals, first starts and injury absentees. Read below our top three stars of the week, as well as a full round-up of each player hoping to impress away from north London.   Folarin Balogun   Folarin Balogun continued his fine start in Ligue 1, scoring for the third straight game and setting a new club record for loan side Reims.   The 21-year-old has become the first Reims player since Jacques Vergnes in 1975 to score in each of his first three matches for the club.   With three rounds played in the French top-flight, only Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have scored more goals than the England youth international.   Balogun’s latest effort, against Strasbourg, earned Reims their first point of the season after heav...

Can Arsenal young gun Folarin Balogun hold down a starting spot up front? By Jonny Bray Before Saturday’s game against Brentford, the one thing most people thought Arsenal didn’t need was another striker. In Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Martinelli, and Eddie Nketiah, the Gunners have the firepower needed to compete at the highest level. However, fans were shocked to find that Aubameyang and Lacazette were both left out of Mikel Arteta’s squad to face the Bees, with academy prospect Folarin Balogun leading the line in their stead. Ever since, the papers have been filled with rumours that one of the two forwards could be on the verge of a move to Barcelona. Gary Neville added further fuel to that fire by saying that he thought there was something there and that the problems with the two players may run deeper than we know. Arsenal would no doubt get over the departure of either player. However, it would mark a horrendous start to the season and affectively kill...

  Five academy prospects who could make an impact this season By Josh Graham It’s not always headline-grabbing big name summer signings that go on to deliver the goods for Arsenal on the pitch the following season. Often it is the unsung and relatively unknown youngsters that complete their journey from academy hotshots to genuine Premier League superstars. But who out of the current crop of Gunners starlets can make an impression in Mikel Arteta’s first team during this campaign? Folarin Balogun Striker Folarin Balogun is set to hit the ground running after being promoted to Arteta’s senior side ahead of the 2021/22 season. For months it looked like the 20-year-old would leave the Emirates before finally putting pen to paper on a bumper four-year deal in April.  The highly promising striker has been at the club since he was nine and made his first senior appearances last season, scoring twice in six games. The England youth international appears to have what it takes to make ...

Should Arsenal sell striker Eddie Nketiah to Premier League rivals Crystal Palace? By Jack Lacey-Hatton It is a big summer for Eddie Nketiah. For a long-time he has been heralded as a future Arsenal number nine, but now faces the biggest decision of his young career so far. The England under-21 record goalscorer has long shown potential to be a valuable asset at the Emirates, a player worth investing time in. Now 22, he is approaching a decisive phase in his career. Will he seek the first team football needed to aid his development, or take his chances at Arsenal and fight for a place alongside Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Nketiah did start in the pre-season friendly against Hibernian this week, only to miss a great chance, firing wide when clean through on goal. Speculation has intensified all summer that he will leave the club and potentially stay in the Premier League, by moving across London to Crystal Palace. He has previously talked about self-be...

Five Arsenal stars who could benefit from a loan move this summer By Oscar Maung-Haley With the transfer window merry-go-round in full swing, we look at the Arsenal players who could benefit from a temporary move away from the Emirates ahead of the new season. Eddie Nketiah At 22 years old, Eddie Nketiah is somehow at risk of becoming yesterday’s man. While 13 goals in 65 appearances for the Gunners is by no means disastrous, Nketiah has hardly hit the ground running since making his debut four years ago. After featuring in all but two of Arsenal’s opening 14 Premier League games last season, he only appeared five times in their remaining league fixtures. There can be no doubt that Nketiah still has potential – he did break Alan Shearer’s England U21s record with 16 goals in 17 appearances. Recently, the Athletic’s David Ornstein reported that Arsenal had offered Nketiah a new contract that would protect his value, which has not been accepted. With his contract set to expire next summe...

Five players that could feature more for Arsenal next season By Oscar Maung-Haley With transfer funds potentially scarce this summer, here are five current players that could help Arsenal improve upon their woeful 2020-21 campaign. Joe Willock With a Premier League Player of the Month award on his mantlepiece, Joe Willock is one name who achieve big things in an Arsenal shirt for the upcoming season. Willock was instrumental in helping Newcastle United to safety last season, scoring eight goals in just 14 appearances. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Alexandre Lacazette were the only Gunners to score more Premier League goals than the 21-year-old this season. Offering a level of dynamism in the centre of the park, Willock would add a goalscoring threat to Arsenal’s midfield. But if he is to progress further, he must be afforded a consistent amount of game-time. Additionally, given that Willock played primarily in a three-man midfield, and Arsenal have tended to stick with a ...

Why next season is Folarin Balogun’s breakthrough chance at Arsenal By Josh Graham Folarin Balogun finally ended the will he or won’t he shenanigans by committing his future to Arsenal in April. The 19-year-old forward penned a four-year deal has been at the club for a decade already. His future had been the subject of plenty of speculation with talk he would move on to try and make his name in a first team elsewhere. But after two goals and an assist in his six senior appearances, Balogun clearly sees his future under Mikel Arteta at the Emirates. After Balogun’s deal was announced, Arteta said: “We have been extremely impressed with Flo this season.  “He has continually shown his natural ability in many training sessions with us and we have been equally impressed with his early integration into the first-team squad on matchday.  "He has given us glimpses with the performances and of course with his two goals already for the first team.  “The hard work starts here for Fl...