The 2021/22 Championship campaign concluded in frustrating way for those of a Middlesbrough persuasion.
Following a disappointing beginning to the season, they have risen to the top after Chris Wilder was appointed manager at The Riverside Stadium in November 2021.
They competed for a spot in the play-offs, which would have given them a chance at promotion to the Premier League, for the majority of the last few months of the season.
Ultimately, however, Middlesbrough would finish seventh, five points behind sixth-place Luton Town, and would just miss out on the top six berth they required for that chance.
Their eventual failure will have been due to a number of factors, including one player who they may not have received as much support from as they had wanted during that time.
Balogun was among those that moved to the Riverside Stadium in the January 2022 transfer window, arriving on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season.
With 14 goals and four assists in 11 league games that season, the striker was in prolific form for the Gunners’ Under 23 team, thus the deal appeared to be quite intriguing.
In addition, he had made a few starts in the first squad for the Premier League team, even scoring in victories against Molde and Dundalk in the Europa League.
The youthful forward, though, was unable to maintain that level of play with Middlesbrough and found it difficult to be a true threat in front of goal in the Championship.
Balogun only scored three goals in his 18 league games for the team, which was disappointing considering the hype surrounding him following his success at Arsenal.
Boro has only won two of their previous eight league games, losing four of them. If the striker had been able to score more, he could have contributed to more winning outcomes for the team.
That in turn, may have made
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