Leon Balogun preaches patience as Rangers manager wait continues

Leon Balogun says he has to exercise patience as he waits to hear about Rangers’ plans for next season – and his place in them.

The centre-back is out of contract this summer and has just two games left to play as the Premiership season wraps up, but has no idea if he will be offered a new contract in a summer of change at Ibrox.

With the American consortium’s takeover expected to be completed by mid-June, and a decision still to be made over who will manage the team next season, it’s almost guaranteed there will be wholesale changes in the weeks to come, and Balogun knows he has no choice but to wait and see what is said to him.

“I’m very blessed that my father taught me the value of patience,” he said.

“I’m just going to have patience, as I have had through my life with many things and then I’ll see what’s happening.

“It’s hard to say [when a decision will be made] because it’s not in my control. I don’t know at what stage the whole thing is.

“I don’t really know and it’s not my business until it becomes mine, hopefully.”

The Nigeria international says he just has to remain calm and trust that the right outcome will be reached. But the 36-year-old wanted there to be no doubt about his physical readiness to continue playing for Rangers and to be part of the team that looks to challenge next season.

“It’s written in the stars and I’ll just trust the big man upstairs, and some people upstairs in the club,” he said. “We’ll see.

“Without trying to sound arrogant, age is nothing but a number.

“I have looked after myself pretty well throughout my whole career, I would like to think, which is the reason I can still perform at this level.

“If I would feel that I was starting to really struggle then I would admit it but I absolutely do not feel that way.”

If his time at the club does come to an end at the end of this campaign, the defender says he’ll have plenty of happy memories to look back on.

“I think I’ve won everything domestically, if I’m not mistaken, which I’m proud of,” he said.

“I hope I’d be remembered as somebody who played his heart out all the time, because I think that’s just how I’m built.

“Like I said, proud, but also humble, because I know there’s been many players before me who have achieved a lot more – but definitely it’s been the best time of my career.

“I said it before that I wish I would have been in an environment where you just expect to win all the time a lot earlier in my career. I don’t know, maybe I would have ended up at Real Madrid, who knows?

“I don’t know, that’s for you to decide, but I’ve really enjoyed every single second, the good times, also the bad times. It’s become a family.”