England Must Do Everything To Persuade Folarin Balogun – Dwight Yorke

England must not shut the door on USMNT target, Folarin Balogun, Dwight Yorke has said. He recently admitted that the Arsenal striker could become the next big thing in football soon, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, if he was Gareth Southgate, he would have a conversation with Folarin Balogun and understand why he decided to pull out of the latest U21 squad to head for America.

Yorke added that players get advised or influenced poorly from time to time, and everyone made rash decisions when they were young.

His words, “It’s a different generation now. Football was more like life or death a generation ago because it was your livelihood. To be a good player, earn a good wage, clean football boots and do apprenticeships. You had to earn the spot to be in the first team changing room, now it’s different. This generation is much softer, they are much more protected by the FA and the Football Players Association. Social media plays a big deal too, they have millions of followers which they earn money from. They’re making money from all different angles than just their club contracts. These young players like Folarin Balogun need to remember that without football, they would not be where they are now, and people can be disillusioned by them because they have 10 million followers. Football has made these players’ lives a lot easier with the option of playing for different countries. If they had only one option, once you’re an Englishman, you’re an Englishman, they would not be having these kinds of strops. As a manager like I am, you need to understand how to manage these situations.”

“These players are young kids and some teenagers, you have to take that into consideration, if they were adults making those kinds of decisions then I’d be worried. Managers have to remember that just because his attitude isn’t right at the moment, it doesn’t make him a bad person overnight. These players are probably being advised or influenced poorly. Everyone made rash decisions when they were young. If I was Gareth Southgate, I would like to have a conversation with Folarin Balogun and understand why he’s made that decision, he should not shut the door on him just yet because he could be the next big thing. From a conversation, then you can find out if he has the right attitude or not to be in your team. We’ve seen players like Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah not have a good time with their managers and look at them now, Balogun could be the same.”