A month is a long time in football nowadays, and Arsenal might be the best example.

The Gunners' run of poor games in the festive period saw fans and pundits discounting them from this year's Premier League title race only to include them again after they won their last five on the bounce by a margin of 21-2.

Mikel Arteta's side are playing the best football they have all season, and a lot of it is built off of brilliant transfers such as Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.

The north Londoners have become adept operators when it comes to signing players in the transfer market these days, and while they could still do better when it comes to selling, there is one player that the club played a blinder with by selling when they did.

The fee Arsenal sold Folarin Balogun for

Now, the Gunners have sanctioned a lot of poor sales in the past, such as Bernd Leno to Fulham for just £3m or losing Aaron Ramsey to Juventus for free, but one player they certainly sold well was American international Folarin Balogun.

The highly-rated striker was on fire in France last season, where he scored 22 goals and provided three assists in just 39 appearances for Ligue 1 outfit Stade Reims.

Such a fantastic output from such a young player sparked excitement among Arsenal fans, as the recently signed Gabriel Jesus, while undeniably talented, was hardly prolific – he managed just 11 goals in 33 games last season.

However, upon the youngster's return to the Emirates last summer and despite a couple of pre-season run-outs, he was eventually sold to Ligue 1 giants AS Monaco for a reasonably hefty price tag of £34m.

While there would have been a few fans lamenting the loss of a promising striker, they've probably changed their tune now after Balogun's return to France.

Folarin Balogun's season by numbers

So, the first thing to clear up is that with the hype that followed Balogun back to France – especially from the States – he was always going to find it challenging to replicate what he did with Reims the season prior.

However, it would be hard to call his current form for Les Monégasques anything other than disappointing, at least as things stand.

Balogun 2022/23

Balogun 2023/24

37

17

21

4

3

4

0.64

0.47

In his 17 league appearances this campaign, the "super complete striker", as former manager Will Still described him, has only scored four goals and provided four assists, which feels a far cry from the 21 goals and three assists he managed in 37 league appearances last year.

The New York-born forward's time on the French Riviera got off to the worst start possible when, on his full debut for the side, he somehow managed to miss two penalties in 43 minutes of action as Monaco fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of OGC Nice.

While his form will surely improve as he grows more accustomed to his new team and surroundings, it does look like Arsenal sold him at the right time, as according to the Football Transfers' Expected Value metric, the young American's value has fallen to just €22m, which is about £19m – or £15m less than he was sold for in the summer.

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Ultimately, Arsenal might still be a team that struggles to sell their unwanted players well, but in this case, they got it pretty spot on.