Folarin Balogun dumps Nigeria for United States of America

The USMNT-eligible has withdrawn from England’s U-21 camp due to alleged injury and has now been spotted in Orlando, where the USA men’s national team camp for the international break.

This comes after he expressed his disappointment in not making England roster for the start of the Euros as he hinted at his frustration in an Instagram story post reading, “Go where your [sic] appreciated.’

Some fans of the USMNT hopes they may be able to get the New York City-born and London-raised forward, with Arsenal’s second chioce keeper and the USA’s No. 1 shot-stopper Matt Turner reported behind is nationality switch.

The 21-year-old striker has been lighting it up at Reims on loan from Arsenal – becoming one of the top three scorers in Ligue 1 with 17 goals.

With his goalscoring haul, he is now four goals ahead of Messi and Neymar and just two goals behind Mbappe as he becomes the youngest player to score at least 17 goals in his first Ligue 1 season since 1956.

Although, the Arsenal loanee has not committed to the USMNT, but he is meeting with U.S. Soccer officials and is expected to attend the match against El Salvador in Orlando on Monday.

He is eligible to represent the USA (his country of birth which he represented at the U18 level), England (which he represented at U17, U18, U20, and U21 youth levels), and Nigeria (his country of origin).

Arsenal keeper says Balogun would be a ‘great addition’ to USMNT ranks but tells his fellow Gunner ‘the decision has to come from the heart’.

“I’ve spoken to Flo we obviously had most of our preseason together. And I knew going into it that he had some roots in the US,” Tunner told media.

“So he and I developed a relationship pretty quickly. And yeah, that’s pretty much the extent of it, we check in on each other here and there.

“And yeah, 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, you know, the decision has to come from the heart.

“Because it’s not necessarily an easy task always to come and play in these CONCACAF games. And it’s a tough region at times. So for us, we’d be really grateful to have him but his heart, his heart needs to be in.”