Folarin Balogun has emerged as a transfer target for Inter Milan and is valued at £50m; Arsenal academy product scored 21 Ligue 1 goals on loan at Reims last term; "For me, he is one of the most exciting young No 9s in world football," says his individual coach
Monday 17 July 2023 20:06, UK
Chris Wilder and his assistant Alan Knill have a rule when it comes to young recruits. "We try not to take anybody on their first loan," Knill says. The reason? "It's always such a learning period."
But when Folarin Balogun became available during their time in charge of Middlesbrough in the Championship in 2022, they knew they had to make an exception. Some players are too good to turn down. "He was just such a talent," adds Knill.
Middlesbrough did not see the full extent of that talent in the end. Balogun, although prolific in Arsenal's academy and with England's youth teams, would depart the Riverside Stadium having only scored three times in 18 Championship appearances.
But even then, after an awkward introduction to senior football and before his stunning, 21-goal campaign on loan at Reims, there was little doubt about the direction in which he was heading.
"People were phoning me afterwards asking me what I thought of him, and my answer was always that I would take him, all day, because there is going to be a really good player there," Knill tells Sky Sports. "It was just a matter of time until it came through."
And so it proved. Balogun's 21-goal haul at Reims was the highest by any player aged 21 or under in Europe's major leagues last term and put him behind only seven players across the continent. Will Still, the club's manager, branded him a "super complete" striker. He now has a lengthy list of suitors and a £50m price-tag.
His technical and physical qualities are key to his attraction.
"First and foremost, he is a really good lad and a really good human being, but we were excited about his talent straight away," recalls Knill. "Really, really quick feet and a good finisher. He knew where the space was and he was mobile. He had a lot of attributes."
Those attributes only surfaced in flashes at Middlesbrough but they were clear to see throughout his time at Reims, where, for the first time at senior level, he showed the full breadth of his goal threat.
The standouts included the breakaway strike to clinch a draw against Paris Saint-Germain in January and the stunning volley to seal a hat-trick against Lorient a few days later. But Balogun also scored five times with his weaker left foot and twice with his head.
"He scores goals from all sorts of angles, on both feet, and with all sorts of finishes," Saul Isaksson-Hurst, Balogun's individual and technical coach, tells Sky Sports. "He has just got that killer instinct in front of goal, as all top strikers have."
"He has all those attributes," agrees Knill. "But, most importantly, he has the mentality to drive himself."
Balogun needed that mentality at Middlesbrough, where he struggled to adapt to the physical demands of the Championship, starting only nine games out of 21 after joining in January 2022.
"These players come out of U21s football and go on loan and expect to play every game, but it's so different, going into the Championship in particular," says Knill. "It's such a tough league.
"It's that Saturday, Tuesday grind. You hardly train, really. As coaches, you're not teaching, because you're playing, recovering, preparing, and then playing again. It happens so quickly.
"It was a difficult time for Flo, but not once did you see that he was really frustrated. His attitude was really good. He just put his head down and accepted the situation. I think that's a big plus for a young player, especially when they are coming from a big club."
It was after that spell at Middlesbrough that Balogun enlisted the help of Isaksson-Hurst for the first time, organising an intensive one-on-one training programme ahead of the following campaign.
"It was his call to action, if you like, to say, 'right, what can I do to make sure the next loan goes better?'" explains Isaksson-Hurst.
"He is one of this new generation of young players who have this real hunger to be the best they can be.
"They are really embracing this concept of marginal gains, understanding that the best do more, and not resting on their laurels or being satisfied with what they've got, instead really trying to push the limits of where their talent can get them.
"It's refreshing to see that and he is of that ilk. He is a very intelligent, eloquent and reflective young man, he is very ambitious, and he just wants to work hard. That's what is really impressive."
Balogun's determination to better himself was evident in the fact he continued his sessions with Isaksson-Hurst while at Reims. He then signed up for another intensive programme this summer.
"He went to the USA after the season ended in France, did the national team camp and played in their games, then had a week off and came straight back here to work with me," says Isaksson-Hurst.
"Rather than have another week off, he wanted to get straight back it and get programmed into the next season. That shows his mentality, the desire to want to get better, and that's going to be the difference between him and some of his peers."
Working with Balogun over the course of the last 12 months has given Isaksson-Hurst a unique, close-up view of his development during a period in which he has taken a giant leap forward.
"He is just so sharp now," he says. "He was sharp before, but you can see that after a season of playing men's football at a very high standard, he is sharper, that little bit more clinical and more hungry maybe. You can definitely see his progress."
The progress is even starker if you run things back to his arrival at Middlesbrough, when the club's coaching staff resolved that, for all his talent, Balogun was not physically ready to play as a No 9.
"We had a lot of conversations about it," says Knill. "He saw himself as a No 9 but I thought, physically, he was probably not strong enough for the hold-up play. It wasn't quite there against the kinds of defenders he was up against, but the idea was there.
"We were sure that, as he got older, more powerful and grew into his body more, those attributes would come, because he already saw the idea of where to move and where the space was. He understood the position."
It all came together at Reims and his rapid progress has left Arsenal with a dilemma. Do they cash in on a potentially world-class striker while his value is high? Or does Arteta, who raved about his "unique qualities" in conversation with Sky Sports in 2021, make room for him in his team?
"For me, he is one of the most exciting young No 9s in world football at the moment," says Isaksson-Hurst.
"You look at it, there's not an abundance of young No 9s floating around the market. That's why there is going to be a lot of interest in Flo, whether he stays at Arsenal or goes somewhere else."
For Knill, meanwhile, the answer is clear.
"Middlesbrough, as a learning experience, was huge for him, and he has gone on to do really well on his second loan," he says. "For me, he now looks ready for the Premier League. Of course, he wants to play. Maybe there's another loan. But I don't think you let him go."
