When Rangers announced the signing of Leon Balogun it came as something of a surprise to a lot of people.
Leon King had just suffered what was thought to be a serious injury – thankfully he wont be out for long – and the big Nigerian was available to step in.
His injury record might not be great over the last two seasons but Rangers signed Leon Balogun for a reason and he has explained why, via BBC Sport.
Why did Rangers bring Leon Balogun back?
At 35-years old, there is one thing that the 42-cap international has in abundance – experience.
Speaking ahead of Rangers friendly fixture with Hamburg on Saturday, the Leon Balogun has revealed why Michael Beale wants him around:
“I think one main thing the manager likes about me is obviously I have some experience.
“What he always said to me is he really enjoys my calming influence on the team and the people around me.
“I see my role to pass on my experience and lead and take some of the weight off their shoulders and take it on mine because I’ve been in situations before that they might face for the first time.
“It definitely helps that I have been here before and experienced quite the rollercoaster with the club in those two years.”
With every centre-half fit for Rangers, Connor Goldson, John Souttar, Ben Davies and Leon King are probably all ahead of Leon Balogun in the queue for minutes.
The Gers gaffer has obviously seen, and commented on, the problems that Giovanni van Bronckhorst faced last year though.
It could easily be argued that the lack of senior centre-halves cost Rangers the league and was the key factor in our dismal Champions League performance.
Successful teams are always built from the back and Michael Beale has brought back a man who knows what it takes to win a league title for Rangers, and that can never be under appreciated.
