Crystal Palace: Balogun could be Eagles’ Andy Johnson 2.0Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun scored 21 times on loan at Reims in Ligue 1 last season and co
uld be a dream signing for Crystal Palace.
Crystal Palace have lacked a prolific goalscorer at Premier League level for a number of years now, but that may be about to change as they have reportedly entered the race to sign Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun.
Is Folarin Balogun staying at Arsenal?
Balogun has been with Arsenal for the past 14 years and made his senior debut in October 2020, but he has made just two Premier League appearances for the club.
After starring on loan at Ligue 1 side Reims last season, it has been widely reported that the United States international could be on his way out of the Emirates Stadium this summer.
According to CBS, Palace have joined London rivals West Ham United in showing an interest in Balogun, who The Sun reports is valued at £35m by the Gunners.
Balogun is currently part of Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the USA, but both the player and manager Mikel Arteta have admitted they are unsure what the future holds.
Where would Folarin Balogun fit in at Crystal Palace?
The 22-year-old enjoyed a season to remember on loan at Reims last season, scoring 21 goals in 37 Ligue 1 appearances to finish behind only Jonathan David (24), Alexandre Lacazette (27) and Kylian Mbappe (29) in the scoring charts.
To put that into some perspective, Eberechi Eze finished top of the Premier League scoring charts for Palace with just ten goals in 38 games. Next on the list was Wilfried Zaha with seven goals, followed by Odsonne Edouard (five), Jordan Ayew (four) and Jeffrey Schlupp (three).
Roy Hodgson could do with a prolific goalscorer, then, one that has not been seen at this level by Palace supporters since Andy Johnson in the 2004-05 campaign.
That was the last time a Palace player scored 20 or more goals in a Premier League season, with Johnson netting 21 in total to finish second only to Arsenal great Thierry Henry (25) on the list of top scorers.
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