| Intro | German-born Nigerian professional footballer | |||||||||
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
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| From |
Germany Nigeria |
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| Type | Sports | |||||||||
| Gender | male | |||||||||
| Birth |
28 June 1988, West Berlin, Allied-occupied Germany |
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| Age | 32 years | |||||||||
| Star sign | Cancer | |||||||||
| Stats |
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| Sports Teams |
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Leon Aderemi Balogun (born 28 June 1988) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish Premiership side Rangers and the Nigerian national football team.
Club career
He made his Bundesliga debut on 19 April 2009 for Hannover 96 in a game against Hamburger SV.
After his contract with 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf had been expired in summer 2014, he was without a club for three months until he joined fellow leaguer Darmstadt 98. He signed a contract until the end of the 2014–15 season.
Brighton & Hove Albion
On 22 May 2018, Balogun signed a two-year deal with Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Balogun made his competitive debut for the Sussex club coming on as an early substitute against Manchester United replacing injured Lewis Dunk. The Seagulls went on to beat United 3–2 at The Amex.
He scored his first goal for the Albion to make it 2–0 against bitter rivals Crystal Palace at The Amex where he scored in 25 seconds after being subbed on replacing Pascal Groß as a result of a Shane Duffy red card for head butting. The game finished 3–1 to the Albion to claim the boasting rights in the M23 derby.
On 27 August 2019, Balogun played in his first ever EFL Cup match in a 2–1 away win over Bristol Rovers.
Wigan Athletic
Balogun signed for Wigan Athletic on 31 January 2020 on a six-month loan deal. On 25 June 2020, he signed a short term permanent contract with the Latics until the end of the 2019–20 season.
Rangers
On 24 July 2020 Rangers announced Balogun had signed a one-year contract with the Glasgow side for the 2020-21 season with the option to extend a further year.
International career
Born to a Nigerian father and German mother, Balogun was called up by Nigeria for a March 2014 friendly against Mexico as a replacement for Joseph Yobo. Balogun entered at half-time, but was injured after 20 minutes in a collision with signage on the touchline. He fractured his foot and was set to miss 2–3 months after surgery. However, he later confirmed to news media that his injury did not require surgery.
On 25 March 2015, he played his second game for Nigeria in a 1–0 loss against Uganda.
He played his third game for the country on 13 June 2015 when he featured in a 2–0 win over Chad in the opening game of qualifying for the 2017 African Nations Cup.
In June 2018, he was named in Nigeria’s final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Balogun played in every minute of the three games Nigeria played in, including a 2–0 win over Iceland, but were eliminated after finishing 3rd in their group.
Balogun was included in Nigeria’s squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. His first appearance in the competition came in Nigeria’s second group game against Guinea in which Nigeria won 1–0 to seal qualification into the knockouts. Balogun made 4 appearances in the competition where The Super Eagles finished as bronze medallists.
Personal life
Balogun was born to a Nigerian-Yoruba father and a German mother. Balogun was raised Roman Catholic and sent to Catholic school from a young age. Bologun said he found strength in religion when he was struggling to make the grade as a teenager and relies the ‘connection to God with which he can flourish’. Balogun speaks fluent English and German, but does not speak Yoruba, the language of his father as his parents tried to assimilate him in German culture.
In November 2019 Balogun said there needed to be a collective response from players to racism in football.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 24 July 2020
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hannover 96 II | 2008–09 | Regionalliga Nord | 21 | 1 | — | — | — | 21 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | Regionalliga Nord | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 37 | 1 | — | — | — | 37 | 1 | |||||
| Hannover 96 | 2008–09 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Werder Bremen II | 2010–11 | 3. Liga | 29 | 1 | — | — | — | 29 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12 | 3. Liga | 20 | 3 | — | — | — | 20 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 49 | 4 | — | — | — | 49 | 4 | |||||
| Werder Bremen | 2010–11 | Bundesliga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf II | 2012–13 | Regionalliga West | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | |||
| 2013–14 | Regionalliga West | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 2012–13 | Bundesliga | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 2. Bundesliga | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | ||
| Total | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |||
| Darmstadt 98 | 2014–15 | 2. Bundesliga | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | |
| Mainz 05 | 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Total | 52 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 58 | 1 | |||
| Mainz 05 II | 2016–17 | 3. Liga | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2018–19 | Premier League | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 1 | |
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | ||
| Wigan Athletic (loan) | 2019–20 | Championship | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| Wigan Athletic | 2019–20 | Championship | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 217 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 228 | 12 | ||
International
- As of match played 10 July 2019
| Nigeria | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 5 | 0 |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 |
| 2017 | 6 | 0 |
| 2018 | 11 | 0 |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | 0 |
Honours
Nigeria
- Africa Cup of Nations, third place: 2019