Stade de Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot has admitted that it will be ‘impossible’ for the French outfit to sign Folarin Balogun on loan for an additional season.
Prior to his switch to France, Balogun struggled to stamp down a place in the Arsenal first-team and endured a tough loan spell at Middlesbrough last season, scoring just three goals in 21 appearances.
But he has exploded this season in France on loan at Stade de Reims where he has become the joint Ligue 1 top scorer alongside Kylian Mbappe and Jonathan David with 15 goals.
Balogun is now a wanted man ahead of the summer transfer window, casting some doubt over his Arsenal future.
Speaking to France Bleu, Caillot said: “I think it’s impossible (that Balogun will return on loan next season). The rules of the game are very clear: these are boys who, when they join us, know that they are there to reveal themselves and this is a stage for them.
“So even if I don’t decide for him, either Folarin will return to his club Arsenal to have his chance, or he will be loaned out again or even transferred to a very high-level club. He is a player who must go even higher.
“So obviously, we will ask the question to him, who feels good here, and to his club but I think that today he will have to take a step. We are already working on the future ‘Balogun’ the day he will be taken to leave the club. But hey, if he and his club agree to do another year at Stade de Reims, we will do everything to make it happen,” Caillot states.
