The start of November has seemingly represented a new dawn for the previously struggling U.S. men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun, who has now been registered to play for Monaco in the UEFA Conference League.

Monaco omitted Balogun from their Conference League squad at the start of the season because the American seemed destined to leave the club. A move back to the Premier League with Everton seemed all but finalized entering the final days of the summer transfer window—until it wasn’t.

The move to Everton collapsed twice in the final hours of Deadline Day on Sept. 1, with Balogun ultimately rejecting the move after the Toffees raised concerns over his medical only hours prior. The on-and-off again failed transfer produced absolute chaos and had a significant impact on other moves during the final hours of the window.

Monaco still needed to sell a player so they tried to offload Balogun in the coming days to a team in a league where the transfer window remained open—which is why he wasn’t registered in the initial Conference League squad. In the end, it was impossible to find a new home and Balogun stayed put at the Principality.

Fast forward to the present and after returning to the pitch over the past month, Balogun is now able to play in Europe’s third-tier competition for Monaco, taking over the spot Ansu Fati vacated after suffering a hamstring injury that will sideline him for a considerable time.

Balogun is now in line for more playing time that will allow him to rediscover his form, something that’s already been rewarded by Mauricio Pochettino.

Balogun Returns to USMNT After First Goal of the Season

Even after his future at Monaco was guaranteed, it took a while for Balogun to make his season debut.

After his controversial appearance in the USMNT’s dismal defeat to Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 following FIFA’s highly criticized decision to lift his red card suspension, Balogun didn’t feature in a game for over two months.

The 25-year-old has made just five appearances for Monaco this season and all of them have come from the bench. Still, there’s reason to believe the USMNT forward is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Balogun played 45 minutes over the weekend—his longest cameo of the season—and scored his first goal of the campaign in the 3–1 defeat against Paris FC. Although the result was far from ideal as Monaco slid to seventh in the Ligue 1 standings, finding the back of the net will surely boost Balogun’s confidence.

Two days later, he was registered in the Conference League squad, and a day after that, Mauricio Pochettino included him in his 25-man USMNT roster for the upcoming Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti.

After a difficult spell, it took just four days since the turn of the month for Balogun’s situation to improve dramatically. With all the off the field controversies seemingly in the past, Balogun can concentrate on delivering on the pitch.

Time for Balogun to Prove His Worth

It seems like eons have passed since Balogun captured the hearts of Americans by scoring a brace in the USMNT’s impressive 2026 World cup debut. He then added another strike against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 win before his red card incident.

Coming off a 19-goal season for Monaco, Balogun seemed to be on top of the world—then came the controversies.

Due to his lack of fitness and playing time to start the season, Balogun wasn’t included in the USMNT’s September-October roster. Instead, Pochettino relied on a crop of young forwards that emphatically stole the show during the four international friendlies of the window.

Justin Ellis, Julian Hall and Cavan Sullivan combined to register seven goal contributions in those four games, including five goals. Hall and Ellis are teenage center forwards that are also lighting up MLS this season and given how well they fared in their maiden USMNT appearances, they are in contention to usurp Balogun’s role as Pochettino’s top option to lead the line for the Stars and Stripes.

All three of the young forwards are back in the USMNT roster alongside Balogun. With internal competition heating up, Balogun must deliver in the two-legged tie against Haiti to re-establish himself atop the striker pecking order.

The Arsenal academy graduate has the talent to do so, and at 25, he also has the experience and maturity to win the striker battle. Like Christian Pulisic, who’s also back with the USMNT for the first time since the World Cup, Balogun is obliged to impress in the November window to make it clear the exciting teenagers still have plenty of improvement to make before taking over his starting duties.