Young Arsenal loanee speaks about his time at Middlesbrough so far

20-year-old striker Folarin Balougun joined Middlesbrough on loan from Arsenal in January. 

The youngster has now made 14 appearances for Chris Wilder’s side and has scored two goals in his last three games.

Now he looks to have properly settled in, we expect to see him feature heavily between now and the end of the season.

The young player feels he is benefitting from the loan move as he told BBC Radio Tees Sport: “It’s my first loan spell. It’s obviously very different to how I grew up in the academy at Arsenal but I’m enjoying every minute of it.

“There is just so many things that I wasn’t aware of. I wasn’t in the environment to learn, as in playing men’s football, so I think now that I have that opportunity I am just trying to absorb as much as I can.”

With Middlesbrough’s impressive cup run, Balougun has had opportunities to play in some big matches so far and is looking forward to another one as his side face Chelsea in the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup this weekend. He said: “My first start was at Manchester United in the FA Cup so you can’t really ask for more in terms of a stage to play on. Then we had Tottenham at Teeside, we obviously got a result there.

“Then we’ve got Chelsea this Saturday so that is obviously great that I am able to still play against these teams on my loan spell this deep into the season and with league games as well. So it’s really good.”

The Verdict:

Just from the way Balougun speaks, you can see how much the young lad loves football and his eagerness to be the best player he can. The young loanee seems genuinely excited by the prospect of learning new things and this will be reflected in the way he plays.

He’s in good form at the minute and such a bright young prospect, should he carry