Arsenal have resumed contract talks with teenage striker Folarin Balagun.
The 19-year old Is out of contract next summer, and looked certain to leave the club, frustrated by his lack of first-team opportunities.
However, he was given his debut last month against Dundalk in the Europa League as a substitute, and, on Thursday, he scored his first goal for the Gunners, finding the net with his first touch after coming off the bench against Molde in Norway.
Balogun has played for both England and the USA at under-18 level and is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club in January, meaning that time is off the essence if the Gunners want to convince him to stay.
However, with Arsenal having secured their qualification already for the knock-out stages of the competition, Balogun is likely to get more game time in the remaining two matches which might be enough to persuade him to stay.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.