Arsenal: Can Folarin Balogun Take Advantage Of Gabriel Jesus’ Injury?

Coach Mikel Arteta broke the hearts of most Arsenal fans on Tuesday, August 1, when he announced that the club’s talisman, Gabriel Jesus had undergone a procedure that could keep him off football for a “few weeks”.

The injury of the 26-year-old Brazil international comes four days before Arsenal face treble winners Manchester City in the Community Shield and ten days before their first match of the 2023-2024 Premier League season against Nottingham Forest.

This development is seen as “a big blow because we had him back to his best,” according to Mikel Arteta but it could be good news for a forward like Folarin Balogun who is not guaranteed a starting shirt if Gabriel Jesus remains fit.

Recall that the arrival of Jesus from Manchester City last summer, forced Folarin Balogun to go on loan at Stade Reims where he played 39 times in which he scored 22 goals and provided three assists in all competitions last season.

Despite such outstanding stats for the 22-year-old Nigerian-born United States international, he is still rated as the third option in the center-forward role at Arsenal.

Hence, while the coach and most fans of the club would be unhappy about Jesus’ injury, Balogun could see this as an opportunity to play more regularly and probably convince Arteta that he deserves more game time.

However, Balogun would have to compete with English forward, Eddie Nketiah who Arteta decided to use as a center-forward during the Emirates Cup game against Monaco on Tuesday, August 2.

Interestingly, Nketiah scored Arsenal’s lone goal in the 1-1 draw before the Gunners went on to win the Emirates Cup via penalties. Balogun was not even in the squad for the game which has sparked concern that he might leave the Gunners this summer.

But if the American player doesn’t leave this summer, Jesus’ injury which will force the Brazilian to miss some Premier League games this month, could give him a chance to fight for a starting shirt.