Monaco ‘rules’ give Folarin Balogun big USMNT tournament decision – with striker put in Copa America & 2024 Olympic Games predicament

The 22-year-old striker, who turned his back on England in order to represent the country of his birth at senior international level, is hoping to figure prominently in American plans for a big summer of tournament action.

Balogun has been included in Gregg Berhalter’s preliminary squad for a Copa America event on U.S. soil, but there are no guarantees regarding game time at that competition. A consolation prize of gold medal glory at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will be offered to some, with Balogun also figuring in that picture.

The former Arsenal frontman has, however, been made aware that he will not be allowed to link up with the USMNT ranks at two tournaments. Monaco CEO Thiago Scuro has told the club’s official website of plans for Games on French soil: “It’s quite clear, we want to respect the wishes of our players and at the same time meet the needs of the club. To do this, we shared with those concerned our two conditions for accepting participation in the Olympics. Firstly, go on vacation before the Games, because they finish very late and we cannot afford to see them leave. Here, we will fortunately not compete in the play-offs for the Champions League, which could have conflicted with the Olympic Games.

“Then the rules are strict: the selection must include 18 players, including a maximum of three players over 23 years old. We will see if the case arises. If Maghnes Akliouche is called up? We will let him go, obviously. For Folarin Balogun, if he is also selected for the Copa America, he will not be able to play both. It would not be fair to the club if a player could be absent so much without taking part in the pre-season.”

Balogun will be hoping to use action over the summer to play his way back into form ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, with only eight goals recorded – alongside some notable penalty misses – in his debut season at Monaco.