Folarin Balogun is pushing to feature in the upcoming Europa League and League Cup matches, according to sources close to the player.

Balogun recently suffered an injury setback with Arsenal, forcing him to pull out of England u19 action over the international break. Fortunately, he was back on the pitch against Leicester City u23s at the weekend, assisting two goals in a win at the Emirates Stadium.

Daily Cannon have learned that the 18-year-old was only pulled out of England duty as a precaution, and he just needed time out to assess a knock and recover.

Those assessments didn’t reveal anything serious, so there was no problem returning to the starting lineup on Saturday.

On the prospect of featuring for the senior side in upcoming Europa League and League Cup matches, sources close to Balogun insisted the player would ‘for sure’ be pushing for those games in his current form.

https://twitter.com/ArsenalAcademy/status/1173988701577338881

It’s hard to argue with that assessment. Balogun was recently nominated for Premier League 2 player of the month, and he has four goals and four assists in five appearances at u23 level so far this season.

The striker is building up a good partnership with Tyreece John-Jules, who was the player to score from both assists mentioned above. Balogun also should’ve had a goal of his own on the day, with only the goalkeeper’s fingertips putting his chip onto the post.

With Alexandre Lacazette’s injury, now is the chance for Balogun and John-Jules to get a game or two, with Nottingham Forest the most likely first opportunity.

Balogun has 29 goals at youth level so far in 2019, 21 of which you can check out in the video below: