UNFP Player of the Month : Balogun hopes to emulate Utaka, Enyeama and Osimhen

Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun is in the running for the UNFP Player of the Month trophy for February 2023.

The England U21 international of Nigerian descent started all the five games played by Stade de Reims in February and wrote his name on the score sheet on four occasions.

Balogun began the month by scoring three goals in Reims' 4-2 win over Lorient - his first hat-trick as a professional. 

 After firing blanks against Auxerre, he was back to scoring ways with a goal against Troyes, and didn't score in back-to-back games against OGC Nice and Toulouse. 

In the race for the top scorer award in the Ligue 1, Balogun ranks fourth with fifteen goals to his name, behind Paris Saint Germain's Kylian Mbappe (18), Monaco's Wissam Ben Yedder (16) and Lille's Jonathan David (16).

The Anglo-American-Nigerian center forward is one of the three nominees for the UNFP Trophy, the others being Mbappe and OGC Nice central defender Jean-Clair Todibo.

The UNFP Player of the Month trophy is an award that recognises the best Ligue 1 player each month of the season, and the winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 50% of the final tally, and the players of each Ligue 1 club.

Balogun will hoping to emulate Nigerian trio John Utaka (Rennes), Vincent Enyeama (Lille), and Victor Osimhen (Lille) who have all won the UNFP Player of the Month trophy in the past. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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