Balogun closing in on a contract trigger to ensure longer Ibrox stay
Leon Balogun has revealed he is on the verge of triggering an option which will secure him an extended stay at Rangers.
The Nigerian international defender, pressed into service as a replacement for injured right-back and captain James Tavernier during the dramatic 4-3 Europa League win over Antwerpinbelgiumonthursday night, is out of contract at the end of the season.
Balogun has now made 23 appearances for Rangers since joining the Ibrox club on a free transfer from Wigan Athletic last summer.
The 32-year-old won’t divulge the exact terms of his deal but confirmed he is poised to activate an extension clause included in his initial one-year contract.
“Obviously, it is under some confidentiality,” said Balogun.
“But it’s getting closer and closer.
"Let’s just say I am quite confident that my time with Rangers is not over after this season.
“I am playing for an amazing club and this season so far has been going really well for me. So, yeah, now it (the contract extension) is sooner.
"I hope I can keep the momentum going and we can then, at one point, announce that we pulled the trigger.”
Signed as a central defender, Balogun has been rotated with Filip Helander throughout the campaign as a partner for the ever-present Connor Goldson at the heart of Rangers’ back four.
But, with the knee injury
sustained by Tavernier likely to keep him sidelined for a spell, while his natural deputy Nathan Patterson is also ruled out as he awaits the outcome of disciplinary proceedings into a breach of coronavirus protocols, Balogun could be set for a run of games at right-back.
It’s not a position which is alien to the German-born player who operated there for much of his early club career.
“I played lower league football in Germany as a centre half but, when I first got into
the Bundesliga (with Hannover), they brought me in as a right-back,” said Balogun.
“I then went back to centrehalf but my breakthrough season in the Bundesliga was with Fortuna Dusseldorf as a rightback for a full season.
"I also played there for Darmstadt and then, when I moved to Mainz, they signed me as a right-back but I ended up playing centre-half there most of the time.
“So I do have experience at right-back and that helped me
immensely to adapt quickly to that kind of quick, frenetic game against Antwerp.
“The amount of running you do is so much different from centre half, especially the way the full-backs play in our system at Rangers.
“James is a big, big component of our game and we need him, that’s for sure.
"But we just need to do what is necessary and, if that means I have to play out of position, I am ready to go. It is all for Rangers, so therefore I am
happy to do it.
“The way we have played the season, you can tell there is not too much ego involved in our squad.
"In terms of the group, it’s a great team spirit, probably the best dressing room I have ever been in in my career.
"You can just tell how everybody is fighting for one another.
"If we come through sloppy periods, where we are not ourselves, we always try to regroup.”