At the start of the transfer window, if you had asked Rangers fans which of our four veterans that are out of contract would you expect to see reporting back for pre-season training? Most would have said Leon Balogun.
The Nigerian international , however, won’t be back after the summer with the arrival of John Souttar, emergence of Leon King and decision of Connor Goldson to sign a new contract being the key factors in him being released.
Balogun was obviously a hugely popular character in the squad and it is no different within the fan base, his signing in 2020 along with Jon McLaughlin and Kemar Roofe were vital in us winning the league for a variety of reasons. We had finally secured a quality back-up for Filip Helander and a partner that Goldson knew that he could trust.
He leaves with a Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup medal and an appearance in the Europa League final, not bad for just a couple of seasons at the club, only injuries prevented him from making an even bigger impact in his time at Ibrox. He may only have scored two goals this season but they were crucial headers against Brondby and Red Star Belgrade, both cracking headers.
There were shades of Majid Bougherra in his play, fast, aggressive, good in the air and loved to meander with the ball out of defence, on a free transfer he was an absolute bargain, it’s just. a shame we didn’t sign him a year or two earlier.
Balogun will go with everyone’s best wishes, and rightly so, it’s never easy to get a rhythm when you are in and out of the team but he rarely let us down, that his last game was one where we lifted silverware is a fitting end to a short but successful Rangers career.
Once a Ranger, always a Ranger and Leon will always be welcome back with open arms.
Can the rest of the defence trust goldson I’d have kept balogun and let the balloon (goldson)go
Big shout that, different type of player though