Monaco sporting director Thiago Scuro believes the Ligue 1 club is the perfect place for Folarin Balogun to “reach the next level”.
Balogun moved to Monaco in August for a potentially £34.4m move, with Arsenal looking to capitalize on the US striker.
Speaking to Stats Perform at the Thinking Football Summit in Porto, Skuro expressed his confidence that Balogun and Monaco would be the perfect match.
“He is a young and talented striker who had a very strong season in Ligue 1 last season,” Skuro said.
“So he’s fully adapted to the league and (we) have full confidence in what he’s capable of in the league. Now our task is to help him reach the next level in his career, as he recently became a member of the US team.
“He’s a young player with an Arsenal academy profile, which means he’s brought very, very good and strong skills with him.”
Balogun, who came off the bench to make his Monaco debut in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Lens, is set to challenge Wissam Ben Yedder for the starting spot.
“We are very happy to have him on the team, who will now compete with Ben Yedder, club legend and top scorer,” Skuro added.
“Internal competition is one of the concepts that I sincerely believe is key to success.”
Balogun scored 21 goals in 37 Ligue 1 matches while on loan at Reims last season. Only Kylian Mbappe (29), Alexandre Lacazette (27) and Jonathan David (24) have scored more goals in France’s top flight.
FOLARIN BALOGUN RED-WHITE pic.twitter.com/2MoxQXICNu
— AS Monaco EN (@AS_Monaco_EN) August 30, 2023
Monaco got off to a great start to the new season, winning three of their four Ligue 1 matches. No team in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more goals than Adi Hutter’s 13 goals.
“I think Adi Hutter’s game idea and style of play, which is very attacking, very aggressive when we don’t have the ball, very aggressive when we have the ball, and the commitment of the players to that is of course also important. very important,” Skuro said.
“Given the quality of our players, we are going to score. The problem is also that this model also forces you to be very insecure (on the defensive). That’s why it’s so important to defend together and work hard.”
Despite Monaco’s strong start, Skuro is not going to get carried away.
“Of course, it’s good to start in a good place and in a good position, because it inspires confidence and brings good energy into everyday life,” he added.
“But this is just the beginning. What matters in football is how you finish, not how you start. So we are very excited about a good start, but we also know that it is a long way to go and we still have a lot to do and we still have to improve our performance in many areas.
“This is our goal. Must be. We care about the details that will make us stronger in the next phase.”