Folarin
BALOGUN

Born in 2001 in New York, Folarin Balogun moved with his family to London when he was 2 years old. The young Anglo-American grew up in England and began his career as a footballer at the London club Albersbrook. A precocious talent, he was quickly spotted by Arsenal, which he joined at the age of 8. There, he trained with all of the youth teams from 2009 to 2019, until he signed his first professional contract at 17. With the Gunners, he played 8 more games before joining Middlesbrough Football Club on loan in the winter of 2022 to play the second half of the season. With "Boro", Folarin played 18 games in the Championship (3 goals, 3 assists). After his time at Middlesbrough, Folarin joined Stade de Reims on loan and debuted in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. In Champagne, the American international had a convincing season (22 goals and 6 assists in 39 games) earning him several nominations for the UNFP Player of the Month. Folarin later decided to play for the American national team and last June, the Brooklyn native received his first call-up, playing in the final stages of the CONCACAF Nations League. After eliminating Mexico in the semifinals (3-0), the Americans won the final against Canada (2-0), a match in which Folarin scored his first goal and won his first title with Team USA.