Mikel Arteta refuses to rule out Folarin Balogun exit

The 21-year-old has unexpectedly stormed to the top of the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts during his loan spell with Reims, scoring 14 goals in 21 top-flight matches.

Balogun's closest challengers Kylian Mbappe and Alexandre Lacazette are both on 13 strikes, while Neymar (12) and Lionel Messi (10) have also scored fewer than the Arsenal loanee.

Balogun's move to Reims was a straight loan with no buy option or obligation, but Rouges et Blancs head coach William Still is believed to have asked for the striker to stay at the club permanently.

Arsenal rejected that January request, but with Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah available to Arteta at the Emirates, Balogun's long-term future is still unclear.

The England Under-21 international is under contract at Arsenal until the summer of 2025, but Reims are expected to try to strike a permanent deal in the summer if he continues his prolific form.

Italian champions AC Milan are also said to be keeping tabs on Balogun's development, and Arteta was questioned on the youngster's future ahead of Arsenal's Premier League London derby against Brentford.

The Gunners boss affirmed that his side would sit down with Balogun to discuss his next steps at the end of the season, but he refused to rule out a summer departure, saying: "The plan is that he finishes his period there, assess the situation where he is, where we are, then sit down and plan the next chapter in his developing career."

Balogun experienced a difficult loan spell at Middlesbrough in the second half of the 2021-22 season, but Arteta believes that the Englishman has "something special" and is showcasing it in France.

"I'm very pleased and obviously when you look at the numbers and what he's doing it's just incredible, and very rare to see that," Arteta added.

"But he's got something special, that's why we gave him a long-term contract and have faith in him and give him the long period that he's having now, because the period he's having now is different to the one before at Middlesbrough.

"But that one was very necessary to see the outcome that he's having now. He had some scars from that period. There were moments when he suffered, moments where he played, moments where he didn't play, moments where he played but he believed he wasn't in his best position and throw all the excuses out.

"It's a proper experience to add to the next one. That's what he did, put that behind him but using what worked for him, what didn't work for him, look in the mirror and go to the next one."

Balogun has made just 10 senior appearances for Arsenal, scoring two goals and setting up one more, with all three of those contributions coming in the 2020-21 Europa League.

Arteta also offered an injury update on Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson and Gabriel Jesus ahead of the visit of Brentford, where victory would send the Gunners eight points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.