Folarin Balogun has been described as having a 'refreshing mindset' by Thierry Henry. Five goals in seven games later, can the Arsenal-owned man help Stade de Reims get a win on the board at home to AS Monaco on Sunday?
Stade de Reims - AS Monaco
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Balogun swapped Arsenal for Reims on loan at the start of the season, and his five goals and one assist have since come in at a rate of one every 74 minutes he has played for the Champagne club.
The England under-21 international has caught the attention of fellow former Gunner Henry, who also scored 18 goals in 140 games for Sunday's opponents Monaco early in his career.
Henry: 'refreshing mindset'
"[Balogun]'s a very English-style player who likes to run down the channels, but he was missing something, which was his finishing," Henry told Amazon Prime Video. "He's now starting to score goals regularly and I'm happy for that - happy he has gone abroad… when I heard he was coming to France, it made me think he has a refreshing mindset."
Watch: Highlights of Reims' 1-0 loss in Toulouse
Unfortunately for Reims, only one of Balogun's goals has been scored in a victory, Oscar Garcia's men beating Angers SCO 4-2 in Round 5. Reims are 16th in the table, only one point above the relegation places, following last Sunday's 1-0 loss at Toulouse FC.
"We weren't effective enough in defence or attack," lamented assisting coach Will Still, standing in for the suspended Garcia. "It's very frustrating because it's the kind of game you shouldn't lose. We were too wasteful."
Reims have a laundry list of absentees. Azor Matusiwa and Kaj Sierhuis are out with a groin strain and ruptured cruciate ligament respectively, while Alexis Flips is suspended. Thomas Foket (thigh) and Florent Duparchy (fractured jaw) are yet to play this season, meanwhile.
Monaco on the march
In contrast to Reims, Monaco have been winning games - each of their last three in all competitions - but Philippe Clement doesn't seem to be settled on who his first-choice centre-forward is between Breel Embolo and Wissam Ben Yedder.
It was a pair of centre-backs who fired them to victory over Olympique Lyonnais last Sunday, Benoît Badiashile and Guillermo Maripan getting on the end of two wicked deliveries from Caio Henrique to seal a 2-1 win.
Watch: Highlights of Monaco's 2-1 win over Lyon
Monaco are nine places and five points better off than Reims up in seventh, and Clement is happy with the direction of travel.
Creating connections
"Yes, it's normal," he answered when asked if he could still finetune his attack. "There are new players who need to create connections. I see that more and more in training, but it's hard to play the same ones every week because of our schedule. Automatisms happen naturally the more we play together."
Monaco will have had four fewer days of rest than Reims come Sunday owing to their UEFA Europa League campaign, but Clement does at least have relatively few injuries to contend with, with only Kevin Volland (ankle) and Myron Boadu (foot) missing.
Possible teams
Reims: Pentz; Gravillon, Agbadou, Abdelhamid; Busi, Munetsi, Cajuste, Locko; Doumbia; Ito, Balogun
Monaco: Nubel; Disasi, Maripan, Badiashile; Vanderson, Fofana, Camara, Henrique; Diatta, Ben Yedder, Golovin