Rangers have received a major boost for the 2021/22 season after Filip Helander played down speculation linking him with Leicester City and Aston Villa [Glasgow Live].
Back in March, Sport Bladet reported that the 28-year-old centre-back – who is contracted until 2023 – was being ‘chased’ by the Foxes and the Villains following impressive performances for the Gers and at international level.
The report asserted that Helander could move to the Premier League this summer, with the Gers turning to Joseph Okumu of Elfsborg to replace him.
Helander is currently with Sweden as their preparations continue for the European Championships and when asked about the speculation, he distanced himself from a move before speaking glowingly about his time at Rangers.
“I have not set any goals to play in England,” he said [Glasgow Live]. “Obviously, as a football player, you want to get as high up as possible in your career, but that is not something I have thought about at all.”
“I wanted to come to Rangers because it was a big and nice club and try to win something there. It is difficult to plan too far ahead, you have to try to take one season at a time.
“For me, Rangers are a bit like Malmo, only bigger. You have to win. I’ve had a fantastic season. We broke all kinds of records like clean sheets and the number of goals conceded…I’ve been rotated quite a lot because of the tight match schedule and we have been playing two matches every week. I’ve also had a lot of history with injuries. It’s worked very well for me.”
These comments from Helander will be music to the ears of Rangers fans, many of whom consider him to be Connor Goldson’s best centre-back partner.
As he touched on here, the big Swede didn’t play every week during the 2020/21 season and he missed the final stages of the campaign with an injury.
However, he was superb in many important matches and wouldn’t be an easy player to replace if he headed for pastures new.
Leon Balogun will definitely be at Ibrox next season and if Helander and Goldson also stay put, Rangers will have an excellent chance of defending their Premiership crown.
In other news, two former Rangers stars are available on frees after being released by Swansea City.
