Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta spoke to the media after his side’s dominant performance against Molde in the Europa League on Thursday.
The Gunners boss demanded a reaction from his side after a few disappointing performances in the Premier League. It is safe to say, Arteta got what he was looking for.
Nicolas Pepe was a man on a mission and opened the scoring early in the second half. Reiss Nelson doubled our lead a few minutes later and Folarin Balogun scored just 37 seconds after coming off the bench to seal a brilliant win.
Arteta spoke about the teenager after his debut goal for the club. The Arsenal boss confirmed that Balogun wants to stay and that the club are working on extending his deal in the near future.
He told Football London: “Well deserved for the boy. He’s working really hard as well.”
“He had some difficult months as well. We had some speculation around him. He’s handled the situation in a really mature way. He wants to stay, we want him to stay. We gave him the opportunity and he took it straight away.”
Balogun is one of our brightest prospects. He has performed brilliantly for the youth teams, and there is no doubt that he will go on to have a fine career at the top level.
Balogun’s current contract expires at the end of this season. Goal claimed in June that Arsenal would cash in on him in the summer after he rejected our contract offer. However, it looks like both Arteta and the young striker have changed their minds over a new deal.
Our win last night means we are through to the next round of the competition. Arsenal can use the youngsters in their remaining two games, and Balogun is in the running for a start after his fantastic cameo against Molde yesterday.
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