England Under 21 boss Lee Carsley hopes Folarin Balogun will commit his future to the Three Lions

Lee Carsley has pleaded with Folarin Balogun to show some patience ahead of trying to convince the striker to commit his future to England.

Balogun has been a star for the Under 21 side in recent years having bagged seven goals in just 13 games. 

The 21-year-old is on the brink of having to choose senior representation, and he recently pulled out of the Under 21 side with the USA keen on recruiting the New York born star.

Speaking after his side lost 2-1 to Croatia, Carsley admitted his side missed Balogun’s presence in the attack. 

‘You’re always going to miss a player with that kind of ability and that knack of scoring a goal,’ Carsley said.

Lee Carsley hopes he can convince Folarin Balogun that he can play for England’s senior team

With 18 goals in 29 games the striker has been a star on loan in Ligue 1 at Reims this season

‘We have created more than enough chances tonight to get more than the one goal. It would be good to get Flo back.

‘Ultimately, he is going to have to make a decision. All we can do is tell him how much we rate him, how much we want to support him and the rest is down to him.’

Carsley has already revealed he plans to travel to France for talks with Balogun, who is on loan at Stade Reims from north London where he has scored 18 goals in 29 games this season, and after the defeat revealed how he hopes to assure him that he will get the opportunity to prove himself at senior level. 

‘I’ll just be making the point of how important he is to us,’ he said.

‘Hopefully we can talk a little bit about patience and understanding that he is going to have to keep doing what he’s doing to break through to the senior team.

‘Like a lot of players in our squad, we’ve got a lot of players that are pushing. Hopefully he can see that. I’ve been there myself as a young player, you’re in a rush and you want to get there quickly.

‘Hopefully I can convince him.’

Having pulled out of the squad Balogun’s team-mates slumped to a 2-1 loss against Croatia at Craven Cottage despite Morgan Gibbs-White netting a penalty kick on Tuesday night 

Balogun’s lack of Premier League experience for Arsenal has prevented him getting a call up

Senior boss Gareth Southgate has previously said that only his lack of Premier League appearances, just two for Arsenal, has prevented Balogun from getting a senior call up.

We like Flo. He has obviously not had an opportunity in the Premier League yet, so we have to weigh up those goals to Ivan [Toney], for example, or Ollie Watkins. Or Eddie Nketiah, who has done really well with the opportunity he has had at Arsenal.

‘I know there are going to be offers as 80 per cent of our players can play for more than one country now, and we are not arrogant expecting everybody to want to come to play for England. We have to make them feel wanted and feel part of that.

USA interim head coach Anthony Hudson confirmed on Thursday that he had spoken with the player, while Arsenal team-mate Emile Smith Rowe believes Balogun should only pick the team that is best for him.