Nigeria’s u20 manager, Paul Aigbogun, is delighted to hear that Arsenal starlet Folarin Balogun has not ruled out playing for Nigeria.

Balogun has been on fire for Arsenal this season, already chalking up 30 goal contributions or the season with his latest brace.

He recently told Arsenal.com, “I haven’t yet declared who I will commit to internationally. I will be discussing matters with my parents and will then decide.”

He is eligible to play for Nigeria, England and the US.

“This sounds good coming from him. I know most of the Arsenal players and this is a very talented player to have in any team,” Aigbogun told BBC Sport when he heard Balogun’s comments.

“He is a good player, but I have not spoken to him yet.”

Arsenal’s u18s defeated West Ham 5-2 last weekend to continue their push for the league title, with Balogun playing a starring role once again.

Arsenal are currently top of the u18 Premier League, four points ahead of Tottenham in second having played a couple of extra games. As a result, they just need to keep winning and hope Spurs eventually drop points, or ideally defeat their North London rivals directly in their match in April.

For now, they look comfortable going up against pretty much any opponent, and that was no different against West Ham. The Gunners raced into a 3-0 lead by half time, with goals from Zak Swanson, Folarin Balogun and Joel Lopez in the first half, assisted by Sam Greenwood and Harry Clarke.

In the second half, they added to that lead, with Mark McGuinness and Balogun scoring, with Balogun’s goal assisted by Trae Coyle. After that, the team took their foot off the pedal, and a goal from Emmanuel Longelo as well as an own goal from McGuinness brought the score back to 5-2. That’s how it ended, with another three points secured.

It was the fifth league game in a row Balogun has scored in since signing professional terms with Arsenal, with eight goals and three assists in those games. In his 25 total appearances for all the academy teams this campaign, Balogun has scored 23 goals and provided seven assists. Here’s the full breakdown of his record in each competition:

• Premier League 2 (u23s): 4 substitute appearances, 1 goal
• EFL Trophy (u21s): 1 substitute appearance, 0 goals
• U18 Premier League (u18s): 15 starts, 19 goals, 5 assists
• FA Youth Cup (u18s): 3 starts, 2 goals, 2 assists
• U18 PL Cup (u18s): 2 starts, 1 goal

If he keeps that up, nothing’s going to stop Arsenal walking to the title in May. Let’s hope he can do so.