German-born Nigerian international Leon Balogun has been a big hit with Rangers fans since joining the club in the summer and he certainly won’t lose any favour with his latest comments.
Discussing his time in Glasgow and the league championship victory, Balogun opened up about his time at Rangers to a German news outlet.
Speaking about his future, the big Nigerian stopper suggested there is only one place he wants to be in the short term as he claims, “my near future lies with Rangers” even if one day he wants to return back home.
The big defender also spoke about how much he’s loving it at Rangers as he waits for the gravity of this title win to settle in.
“I was born in Berlin and if there were another opportunity for me at home or in Germany, it would be outstanding,” said Balogun [Sport1].
“But with the Rangers we are first looking at the Champions League, if we successfully qualify. Who wants to miss this? When I stop playing football, I will return to Germany.
“If that happens before then, I don’t mind. But my near future lies with the Rangers.
“That it happened [the title win] in my first year isn’t important. The cool thing about is that I’m part of a team that has tried in the past few years to stop the other side of town and polish up the Rangers logo.
“It never worked and this season the big topic was to stop their “10 In A Row” which neither team has yet succeeded in doing. That’s what’s much bigger about history, especially in view of the recent past.
“Sure, for me it’s the first championship title in my career. But I have to let that sink in first.
“And I said to Chey Dunkley [former teammate], ‘You’ll see I’ll be holding the trophy at the end of the season.’
“The easiest thing was to dream about it. Putting it into practice was a different matter. It’s so incredibly good with Rangers.
“It’s another milestone with which I have proven to myself, and also to critics, what I’m made of.
“There are other guys in my team who have seen so much crap and had to put up with so much malice from the other side of town.
“The title has a much greater meaning for them. But it was a successful first year for me.”
These comments also come after Gerrard claimed the club want to keep a hold of the defender and hinted towards a clause in the player’s contract [Goal].
If the defender’s glowing comments about life at Ibrox weren’t enough, Balogun has been quite happy to stoke the Glasgow rivalry with Celtic too.
The Nigerian international even refuses to mouth their name and the defender claims he got used to the Old Firm pretty quickly.
“I got used to that [the Old Firm] right away. I don’t say the name of this other group, I always say, those from the other side of town or from elsewhere,” said Balogun.
“Because the rivalry between us and the club on the other side of town is incredible. That tenth title that the club was aiming for was the big theme this season.
“Honestly? I still have no real idea of this rivalry because no fans are allowed to be there yet.
“I get an insight through social media or the last time before the game day, when we arrived at the stadium when the streets were full of fans and the police had to guide us through.
“But even then my teammates said to me ‘Leon, you haven’t seen anything yet’. I still have no idea how crazy our fans are, what it feels like to play in front of them.”
It’s not the first time the big defender has spoken about his future with Balogun previously making a substantial claim regarding his contract earlier in the year.
