Arsenal’s seasonal success is the result of years of underrated, gritty work by manager Mikel Arteta and his team; carefully, meticulously reinvigorating the depleted outfit and steering the club back to the prominence that its proud, endearing fanbase dearly craves.
The Spaniard, taking the reins at his former club – as a player – in his first managerial role since departing Manchester City, as Pep Guardiola’s No. 2, was often berated across the early phases of his tenure, something that did not quite resonate with certain, more fruitful fans following his FA Cup triumph in 2019/20 and the emergence of the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe from the Hale End Academy.
And while last season ended with a bitter twang, after Arsenal’s late wobble in the closing weeks of the season ended hopes of returning to the Champions League after six abject, absent years, this season the club have ended all criticism of their calibre after soaring to the top of the Premier League and holding a five-point advantage over second-place Manchester City after 21 matches, and with a game in hand.
Remarkable progress indeed, and in order to continue the meteoric rise, the Emirates outfit’s manager must now ruthlessly ditch striker Eddie Nketiah for Folarin Balogun, who is on loan at French side Reims.
The respective forwards both owe their breakthrough on the professional scene to the Gunners, and while Nketiah has been a reliable replacement for £45m summer signing Gabriel Jesus, he is unlikely to make the talismanic position his own on a regular basis in north London.
Nketiah has, to his credit, been the perfect utility option, scoring nine times from 28 appearances this season – including four goals from just six league starts – but there is certainly doubt around his future as the club’s leading striker.
Balogun, in retrospect, looks a formidable force and one that could blossom into an attacker capable of flourishing at any outfit of his choosing, should his abilities be nurtured and developed in an apt manner.
The 21-year-old American-born prodigy has scored 15 goals from just 23 outings this season, also supplying two assists, which is a continuation and an improvement on the work he plied last year on loan at second-tier Middlesbrough, scoring three times from 18 Championship outings.
It’s also worth noting that Balogun, hailed a “goalscoring sensation” by the Athletic’s James McNicholas (Gunnerblog), appears to be a striker of clinical nature, an attacker with a lions hunger, devastating and unrelenting in his frontal approach; Jesus, comparatively, has been commended for his threading of the collective Arsenal offence, selfless and holding bundles of ingenuity, and a prospective partnership could be a tantalising concoction.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 13% of forwards in Europe for rate of non-penalty goals and progressive passes received, and he is compared to phenoms such as Robert Lewandowski, Victor Osimhen and, interestingly, Eddie Nketiah.
The truth is, while there are certain segments of the Arsenal fanbase that will undoubtedly call for both stars to remain at the Emirates next season, the battle for regular minutes might become strenuous, especially given that established centre-forward Gabriel Jesus will be fit and firing again after the lengthy injury he sustained on World Cup duty with Brazil in December.
And with both aces bearing semblance in their play, there will come a time that Arteta has to ruthlessly pick between the two, and dependable as Nketiah has been this term, it would be ludicrous to pass up on a player of Balogun’s talent before he gets a taste of the Premier League, in the fray with one of the nation’s most exciting, cohesive units. Indeed, his selection after such a rampant campaign would be one to get the Emirates rocking even further. A mouth-watering thought for any supporter.