Leon Balogun signs one year extension to his Glasgow Rangers contract keeping him at Ibrox until 2022

SUPER Eagles centreback Leon Balogun has ended speculation about his future with Scottish Premiership giants Glasgow Rangers by signing a one year extension to this contract keeping him at the club until the summer of 2022.

Balogun, 32, joined Rangers on a one-year deal last July from English Premier League side Brighton with the Glasgow club having the option to extend his stay for a further year. Since moving to Scotland, the defender has been immense, establishing himself as one of the pillars of the team, alongside compatriot Joe Aribo.

Delighted with Balogun's form, Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has decided to exercise the option of retaining the player for at least another season after he helped the club win their 55th league title. Since joining Rangers as a free agent last summer, the former Mainz and Brighton man has played 28 games in all competitions and provided three assists that have resulted in goals.

Balogun said: "Today is a very happy day and a very proud day announcing my contract has been extended for another year. I am proud to be a part of this amazing club and I felt that pretty early on I had fallen in love with the club and the working environment, the way the players and the management staff work and the way the club is a big family, I am happy and proud that I can call myself a Rangers player.

"I am happy to be a part of the team that won the league but what we have been saying recently is we are just getting started and I am happy that I can be a part of this. I said a few weeks in to one of my family, I wish I had been at a club and an environment like this early-on in my career.

"I am very, very happy and proud that this can now be announced. One thing too, I was never going to leave before witnessing a full Ibrox Stadium and if everyone was happy, I was going to stay."

Apart from Balogun and Aribo, young Nigerian leftback Calvin Bassey is also at the club, making the Super Eagles very popular with the Glasgow Rangers fans. Born in Italy, Bassey is actually eligible to play for Italy, Nigeria or England at international level but has opted for the Super Eagles.