Super Eagles Defender Leon Balogun Joins Scottish Club Side Rangers.

Scottish football club side Rangers have today announced the signing of Nigerian centre-back Leon Balogun on one-year deal, with Rangers having an option for a year further.

The Super Eagles defender arrives in Glasgow from Wigan Athletic, after joining the Latics on a six-months loan deal on 31 January 2020 from his parent club Brighton & Have Albion.

Due to the coranavirus pandemic Leon Balogun signed a short term premanent contract until the end of the 2019/20 season with Wigan last June following the expiration of his contract with Brighton.

His impressive performance at Wigan, wasn't enough to keep the Latics who were relegated after battlling under incredible pressure to try and secure their safety in the English Championship.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard believes that Leon is an experienced defender who will "add strength and depth to his squad, as he spoke via the club's website following the announcement of the deal;

"His experience in the Premier League as well as his international pedigree strengthens our squad and will assist in the development of our young defenders.

“Leon has just finished a round of competitive fixtures with Wigan so will hit the ground running. He’s a positive and bright character and we are looking forward to his influence around the group”

Sporting Director of the club Ross Wilson added: “We quickly targeted Leon after adapting our transfer plan. 

"We agreed terms with him because he impressed Steven Gerrard". 

Leon Balogun arrives the Ibrox Stadium to add further competition in the centre of defence, following the long-term knee injury to Croatian defender Nikola Katic few weeks ago.

He began his senior career in Germany with Turkiyemspor Berlin before moves to Hannover 96, Werder Bremen, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Darmstadt 98 and Mainz are amongthe clubs he featured for, before he switched to Premier League Brighton in 2018.

The 32-year-old though born in Germany, plays for the Super Eagles through his Nigerian-Ypruba father, and has 32 caps to his name to date.

He played in all three of the Super Eagles matches at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He was also among the team that won the bronze medal at the 2019 African Cup Of Nations in Egypt. 

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