Folarin Balogun signs long term contract extension with Arsenal keeping him at the Emirates

NIGERIAN-born striker Folarin Balogun has committed his future to English Premier League Arsenal by signing a new long-term contract that promises to keep him at the Emirates Stadium for the foreseeable future.

Balogun, who will be 20 this summer, has played for the Arsenal first team six times in the Carabao Cup and Europa League, although he is yet to feature in the Premier League. Many Arsenal fans believe he should have featured more for the club, however, as many of their first team strikers have been struggling with form of late.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, said: “We have been extremely impressed with Flo this season. He has continually shown his natural ability in many training sessions with us and we have been equally impressed with his early integration into the first-team squad on matchdays.

“He has given us glimpses with the performances and of course with his two goals already for the first team. The hard work starts here for Flo and we are all looking forward to supporting and working with him in the years to come.”

Balogun has scored twice in the Europa League this season in substitute appearances against Molde and Dundalk during the group stage. However, the majority of his appearances have been for Arsenal’s Under-23 team in the Premier League, where he has scored nine times in 17 games, as well as captaining the side.

Arsenal's technical director Edu said: “It’s great that Flo will continue to be with us. He is a very promising young talent and has already shown so much quality in his performances, so we are all looking forward to working with him during his continued development in the coming years.”

Balogun was born in the US to Nigerian parents and has lived in London since the age of two. He has represented both England and the US at junior international level so far in his fledgling career and also remains eligible to play for Nigeria as well.