For almost the whole of last summer Michael Beale seemed intent on brining a younger, quicker and more composed centre-half to Rangers.
Plenty of players were linked, however, despite Filip Helander leaving and doubts over John Souttar’s fitness, only Leon Balogun arrived.
Despite his position as a backup, there are few who could argue against him being Rangers most consistent centre-half when he played and a new contract is a must – as well as an apology.
Rangers decision to sign Leon Balogun proven right
Cast your mind back to last summer and the signing of Balogun.
There was a bit of smoke and mirror stuff from the manager with the veteran said to have been brought in to cover a serious injury to Leon King.
The reality, as clearly seen in RTV footage, is that Balogun was already in training before King got injured.
After his breakthrough season, it seemed to be a waste of money to block an academy talent with a fourth-choice option on a £8,000 per week salary, according to Salary Sport.
It was even stranger when Michael Beale didn’t play him.
Philippe Clement, on the other hand, was a fan and made room for Balogun’s no-nonsense, aggressive defending style and became the first pick alongside Connor Goldson until injury saw John Souttar take his place.
Against Celtic, Balogun again showed why he deserves to stick around and has every right to claim to be ahead of Goldson and Souttar in the pecking order now.
Put it another way, how many mistakes has Balogun made leading to goals compared to Goldson and Souttar?
Out of the 18 games Balogun played, he won 15, drew two and lost one. Two of the games being against Celtic at Parkhead and Hampden.
Given that Balogun will be 36 in the summer, Clement won’t be re-signing the Nigeria international to be one of his main men.
With Jose Cordoba set to arrive, the Gers boss needs to free up some space first.
Clement hint suggested new deal was on the cards for Balogun
Speaking recently about the players whose contracts are about to expire, Clement suggested that the 6ft 3inch stopper could be offered a new deal and reports in the last 24 hours back this up:
“Leon is somebody who showed every day the right mentality, the right passion for the club.
“So that can be something that is on the table at the end of the season.
“But it is the end of the season that we can make a really good evaluation about everything and everybody.
“It’s going to be a very interesting period in that way for us to make the right decisions for next season also.
“To see how everybody trains, plays, behaves, works, shows resilience in the next couple of weeks because you want to be successful with this club so we need the right players in the building.”
There would be few complaints amongst the fan base if he did.
What Clement will be looking for in the summer for Rangers is Leon Balogun, only younger.
A player with the same desire and passion for the basics of defending and who can cover a right-back who likes to wander.
That, at nearly 36, Balogun is Rangers quickest central defender needs to be rectified.
As one of those who questioned his return, I can only hold my hands up and admit I was wrong.
I’d love to see the gentle giant back again next season, if only he was 25.
