Arsenal of England youth team players, Folarin Balogun and James Olayinka were again both in training with The Gunners’ senior team, ahead of the London club’s New Year’s day clash with Manchester United in the English Premier League.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, alongside vastly-improved defender, Tolaji Bola, Balogun and Olayinka have been steadily but surely knocking on the door of permanent spots in Arsenal’s senior squad, as they continue growing in stature and ability.
Although Bola was absent in The Gunners’ last build-up to Wednesday’s clash with Man United at Emirates Stadium, Balogun and Olayinka were both found among the numbers, alongside fast-rising left-sided winger-turned-defender, Bukayo Saka, who is in contention for the club’s player of the month award.
While Saka is already a regular starter in the main team, Balogun and Olayinka were joined by four other players from the youth squad – Matt Smith, Nathan Tormey, Zech Medley and Harry Clarke – at the training session, but none of them looked in contention for a shirt in midweek.
The 18-year-old Balogun has twinkled in the English Premier League 2 this season, with seven goals and four assists in ten appearances, plus additional outings in the EFL Trophy competition and Premier League International Cup.
Balogun was a non-playing substitute in the Carabao League Cup fixture against Nottingham Forest and in the final squad that faced Standard Liege of Belgium in the UEFA Europa League, while 19-year-old Olayinka impressed during pre-season in which he scored against Colorado Rapids of America, during an international club friendly in July.
However, the pick of the pack of Nigerian-born players currently at Arsenal is Saka, who has been nominated for the club’s best player of December 2019, along with the trio of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel Martinelli and Lucas Torreira.
This comes after the 18-year-old Saka featured in six of eight matches contested by the North London side, starting four and off the bench in two, with rave reviews following him, though he has played as a left-back in the last four Premier League matches and was impressive as Arsenal kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw at Everton on December 21.
Also during the period in review, a goal and assist from the England under-19 international helped Arsenal salvage a draw in their last Europa League group game against Standard Liege, but he will not bank on Arsenal supporters to vote for him within the stipulated entry time that expires at 11:59pm on Monday, January 6.
