AS Monaco boss Adi Hutter believes Folarin Balogun can do better, telling the media the former Arsenal striker needs to adapt to his new club.

Arsenal academy striker Folarin Balogun moved to AS Monaco over  the summer, joining the Ligue 1 club for €40m (£34.4m), with the Gunners also holding a sell-on clause for the forward.

Balogun had been excellent on loan with Stade de Reims in 2022/23, scoring 21 league goals to put him joint-fourth in the overall top scorer standings.

But the striker hasn’t been quite so prolific in 2023/24 so far, only scoring four goals at the midway point in the campaign.

That doesn’t quite tell the whole story. Monaco are third in the league, so Balogun certainly isn’t holding his team back, and he does have three assists on top of his four goals.

Even so, it’s clear that the 22-year-old hasn’t yet hit the same heights with Monaco as he did with Reims. Monaco boss Adi Hutter has tried to explain why.

“Firstly, I think we play a different style of football (to Reims),” Hutter said (via GFFN). “He was the go-to striker.

“He received the ball in lots of space, he was on the back-line and attacking the space. Here in Monaco, it is a little bit special; it is different for him.

“We have more possession of the ball, more in the opponent’s half.”

“He has to adapt,” Hutter added. “He’s a young player that I have spoken with a lot. In a career, you’re not always at your best peak, so we have to accept this.

“Everyone can see he can do better. I am happy with him. He’s a very professional player. He does everything in possession. This is football sometimes.”

Balogun will want to hit the ground running in the second half of the campaign, and he has the perfect opportunity to make a statement on Saturday afternoon.

Monaco face the striker’s former club Reims, against whom Balogun has already scored this season. Another goal this weekend would be very welcome.