Mikel Arteta offers Folarin Balogun piece of advice over his international future

Mikel Arteta has offered Folarin Balogun a piece of advice following the speculation surrounding his international future.

The Arsenal forward has been in prolific form on loan at Reims this season, having scored 17 goals in Ligue 1.

In doing so, he has caught the eye of several of Europe'e elite cups, with the 21-year-old's future currently up in the air.

It is thought that Balogun will return to north London in the summer, where a decision will be made regarding the next step in his career.

However, there also remains a degree of uncertainty surrounding his international allegiance, with the striker eligible to represent England, the United States or Nigeria.

In the meantime, Mikel Arteta has offered his twopence on the situation.

What did Arteta say?

In the lead up to Arsenal's emphatic 4-1 win over Leeds, the Gunners boss was asked what advice he would give Balogun over his international situation.

Arteta used the opportunity to heap praise on the player, responding: "To focus on today, and focus on what he had been doing because he has been phenomenal.

"Keep doing what he has been doing and don’t focus on anything else, and everything else will come naturally.

"I would try to do what he has been doing because he’s been working really well for him and the team," added the Spaniard.

England manager Gareth Southgate didn't select Balogun for his most recent Euro 2024 qualifying squad, opting for Brentford's Ivan Toney instead.

Balogun was called up to the Under-21's side, but promptly left the camp with what was described as an injury, only to start Reims' next match against Nantes.

The Three Lions boss has since urged Balogun to be patient and wait for his opportunity in an England jersey, stating that he would only select players on merit as opposed to stopping them playing for other nations.

He explained (quotes via Daily Mail): "It is up to the player to weigh up where his feels. Is he prepared to wait a little bit for an opportunity if he backs himself and feels he can push his way into the squad?

"Because anybody who has followed us will know that we will give young players a chance. So, we cannot go and give first team call-ups to someone just because we don't want them to go somewhere else.

"We like Flo [Balogun]. He has obviously not had an opportunity in the Premier League yet, so we have to weigh up those goals to Ivan [Toney] for example, or Ollie Watkins, or Eddie Nketiah, who has done really well with the opportunity he has had at Arsenal.

"I know there are going to be offers as 80 per cent of our players can play for more than one country now, and we are not arrogant expecting everybody to want to come to play for England.

"We have to make them feel wanted and feel part of that."