Club news

In Focus: Leon Balogun

By Alex Stedman • 23 May 2018

Brighton & Hove Albion made their first summer acquisition on Tuesday with the signing of Leon Balogun.

The defender pen to paper on a two-year deal with the Seagulls before he looks set to head off to next summer’s World Cup with Nigeria, and we’ve profiled the club’s latest recruit:

  • Balogun made 14 Bundesliga appearances for FSV Mainz 05 during the 2017/18 campaign.
  • Balogun played five of Nigeria’s six qualifying games for Russia 2018, helping them to two clean sheets in the process.
  • Albion’s new defender will be part of the Nigeria squad that will play England at Wembley Stadium in a friendly on Saturday 2nd June.
  • Balogun's Nigeria side look set to come up against Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero in Russia – the Super Eagles are drawn against Argentina in Group D. The country’s best progress in previous tournaments has been the Round of 16, which they have reached three times.
  • Balogun was born to a Nigerian father and German mother on 28th June 1988 – he elected to play for his father’s country and made his debut for Nigeria in March 2014.
  • Balogun will be hoping to be Albion’s third representative at this summer’s World Cup. Both Australia’s Maty Ryan and Colombia’s Jose Izquierdo have also been named in their country's preliminary squads ahead of next month’s tournament.

Supporters can follow our latest signing on social media on Twitter @LeonBalogun and Instagram @leonbalogun.