The signing of Leon Balogun quickly went from rumour to reality. Then reports of a £5m move for Glen Kamara surfaced afterwards. Here’s Wednesday’s Rangers transfer update.
Leon Balogun
Many thought it was a ridiculous rumour coming from FollowFollow. Then Rangers announced a serious injury to Leon King;
The ‘ridiculous rumour’ suddenly started feeling very real. Then Rangers announced today that the 35-year-old had signed a one year deal with the club. It’s clear he’s been brought in as back up and the injury to Leon King accelerated this move.
Michael Beale had this to say on the signing;
Leon is a person that I have full trust in both as a footballer and a man.
He is extremely well-liked by everyone inside the club, and we are very happy to have someone with his experience and leadership qualities re-joining our squad.
Michael Beale on Leon Balogun to RTV
It’s clear that signing Balogun was an easy decision for the manager to make. If nothing else he adds experience and personality to the squad, alongside being a capable back up to the first choice centre backs.
Glen Kamara
Various reports have come out since last week claiming that the Finnish international is ‘desperate’ to leave Rangers. It was reported a few days ago that Besiktas were interested in the 27-year-old but were only willing to pay €2.8m. Read more about that here.
Today though, there could be a huge turn of events as Leeds are reportedly interested;
‘Just £5m’ would be incredible business from the club. Going from €2.8m to £5m in a matter of days shows how volatile the market can be. For all the recent failings with the ‘player trading model’ this one has to go down as a success.
Despite the fact he probably could’ve been sold for more a year or two ago, he was bought for £50k. So getting £5m for a player who cost so little would be incredible. Especially now, considering he’s not a key part of the team.
Conclusion
Balogun could prove to be a smart signing, that’s only assuming he isn’t the only centre back to arrive this window. Rangers need another centre back to come in who’s higher up the pecking order and that could potentially be Jonathan Panzo. If Leon Balogun is the only addition in that area of the pitch then that becomes a completely different issue and changes my opinion of the deal.
If £5m is on the table for Glen Kamara then Rangers have to accept it as soon as possible. Considering his form last season and his lack of interest in staying at the club, he needs to go. Although he’s a player who’s capable of excellent performances, Rangers haven’t seen them recently. It’s time say thanks to the midfielder and take the £5m to spend elsewhere.
What do you think of both of these deals? Are you upset about the signing of Leon Balogun? Are you happy with the reported £5m price tag on Kamara?
Still don’t fully understand why we let Balogun and Katic go, anyway he’s a cracking addition to the squad for reasons mentioned.
Glen Kamara’s never been the same since the racist incident, I think it affected him more than we realise. He doesn’t want to be here so to me it’s a no brainer, take the £5m and wish him all the best.