Arsenal teammate Balogun a great addition for U.S. - Turner

Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner said Gunners' teammate Folarin Balogun, currently on loan at Reims, would be «a great addition» to the United States national team.

Balogun, 21, has been in scintillating form for Reims this season, with his 17 goals in 27 league appearances tying him for third in the Ligue 11 goalscoring charts behind Lille's Jonathan David and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, who have 19 each.

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Balogun is eligible to represent the U.S., England and Nigeria. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, but moved to the U.K. when he was two years old and has represented England at youth international level. Balogun was expected to join up with England's U21 team during the international window, but withdrew due to injury.

«I spoke to Flo. We obviously had most of our preseason together, and I knew going into it he had some roots in U.S.,» Turner said during Wednesday's media availability. «So he and I developed a relationship pretty quickly. That's pretty much the extent of it. We check in on each other here and there.

»He'd be a great addition to our national team. I think he's done really well, obviously, for his club on loan, and we'll see. The decision has to come from the heart, because it's not necessarily an easy task to come and play in these CONCACAF games. It's a tough region at times. So for us, we'd be really grateful to have him, but his heart needs to be in it."

The U.S. have had a recent run of success in recruiting dual nationals, with Sergino Dest, Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah and Groningen forward Ricardo Pepi opting to represent the Stars and Stripes. Just last week, Club America forward Alejandro Zendejas did the same.

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