Since his arrival in Monaco in the summer of 2023, Folarin Balogun has struggled to confirm his promising first season in Ligue 1 with Reims (21 goals in 2022-2023). The fault lies in a succession of injuries. This season, the American striker was only able to play 7 L1 matches for 3 goals scored.
And he is not ready to return to the field after another injury, this time to his left shoulder, during OM-Monaco (2-1) on December 1. “He will have surgery tomorrow (Tuesday). He will be out for four months,” explained Monaco coach Adi Hütter at a press conference this Monday, two days before the clash with PSG in the advanced match of the 16th day of Ligue 1.
Asked about the arrival of an offensive reinforcement, he did not close the door when the name of Randal Kolo Muani, in disgrace at PSG, was mentioned: “We believe in our scorers, George Ilenikhena and Breel Embolo, but our job is to have our eyes open to the transfer window. We will see what is the best solution for us, but when we talk about Kolo Muani, that would be good (smile). But we have to be honest… There are a lot of strikers in Europe who could help us. I have known Kolo Muani since his time at Frankfurt, he scored a lot of goals there, they were very good. It could be a profile. But there are a lot of things that come into play. And without a doubt, it is not one of the cheapest! We have a few profiles but I don’t know who will come exactly. We have to find the striker who scores goals for us. It doesn’t matter how old he is, whether he’s 22, 31 or 35. This is our main concern at the moment.”
In addition to Balogun, Monaco will be deprived of its goalkeeper Radek Majecki and Christian Mawissa. Captain Denis Zakaria, who was injured in the warm-up against Toulouse (hamstring), is not certain to return. “He trained yesterday (Sunday), explained the Austrian coach. We have to see with him and the medical staff if he plays, taking into account the busy schedule that awaits us in January. »
