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Thierry Henry has praised attacker Folarin Balogun for leaving Arsenal on loan and moving to France. The Gunners legend believes it is a bold step and one that will help him develop.
Balogun joined Stade de Reims this summer on a year-long loan from Arsenal. He has started well and scored five times in seven matches, which include five starts.
Speaking about the young striker, Henry claimed it was difficult for Londoners to adapt to other places and was happy that Balogun took the opportunity to move abroad. He told Amazon Prime Video Sport:
"I'm really happy for him because in general English players don't go abroad. Normally players are loaned either to another Premier League side or in the Championship.
"He's a very English-style player who likes to run down the channels but he was missing something, which was his finishing. He's now starting to score goals regularly and I'm happy for that – happy he has gone abroad.
"It's especially so considering he is a Londoner; in general Londoners struggle to leave London. When I heard he was coming to France, it made me think he has a refreshing mindset."
Balogun is a part of Arsenal's future plans
Mikel Arteta spoke about Balogun earlier this year and claimed that the striker was very much part of his plans.
He added that the youngster was doing the right things in training and told the club's official website:
"I think Flo is doing what he needed to do, and probably we should have done it a little bit earlier. It's always a bit difficult to time when is the best moment to do that.
"But he's having the right exposure, he's playing in a different formation and sometimes a different role under a manager and a club with huge history. You can see how he is developing.
"This is going to give us more detail about what is the next best move for him to keep developing, because he has developed and we want him to be part of our future."
Arsenal have signed Gabriel Jesus after letting Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette leave this year.
