March 13, (THEWILL) – Folarin Balogun, the English Under-21 international on loan at Stade de Reims from Arsenal, is on the verge of matching Glenn Hoddle’s Ligue 1 scoring record.
The 21-year-old scored in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Monaco, ending his three-game scoring drought. He has now scored 16 goals in 26 appearances, making him the third-highest scorer in the French top-flight.
He needs just two more goals to match Hoddle’s record of 18 goals in 32 appearances during the 1988-1989 season for Monaco, when Arsene Wenger was the team’s manager.
Balogun, given his Nigerian heritage, has also equaled the Nigerian record for most goals in a single Ligue 1 season, set by Victor Ikpeba during the 1997-1998 campaign. However, Balogun achieved the feat in just 26 games, while Ikpeba took 30 games to reach the same tally.
The versatile forward is also eligible to play for Nigeria and the United States even if he has previously represented England at the U-21 level internationally. He played for the United States U-18 2018.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
