Rangers must hand Balogun new deal – McCoist

Ally McCoist has told Glasgow Rangers to give Leon Balogun a new contract at the club to reward him for his performances this season.

The 33-year-old defender’s current contract at Ibrox expires at the end of the season and there has been little talk of a renewal to take him into next season.

But with Connor Goldson’s contract also expiring and him being likely to leave, McCoist told BT Sport that Rangers have to get him signed up for next season.

“You’ve got to get him signed up,” he said.

“You have to get him signed up for another year. Alan (Hutton) is 100 per cent right.

“It’s a position, there’s still a little bit of concern for Rangers, but you look at somebody like Balogun and you can argue that one of his best performances this season was when he played right-back against Celtic at home.

“They put him in at right-back to play against Kyogo and he was absolutely superb. I think he’s one of these players that you give him a job to do and he’s more than happy to take it.”

Rangers have got a very experienced side right now, but there’s nothing wrong with keeping some older heads around when revamping. This summer is likely to be huge for Van Bronckhorst’s side in the market, with several players out of contract this summer and next summer so decisions need to be made.

Balogun is coming towards the end of his career now so is unlikely to find another big club to take him on where he’ll play regularly, so he’d want to stay.

If the club can secure him for another year, that’s one less position to try and bring in this summer while also ensuring that they have a player they trust and can play at this level for another 12 months.

He may not be in his prime anymore, but the club could do a lot worse than listen to the fans and club legend and give the Nigerian international an extra 12 months at Ibrox.

PUNCH/Nnenna.O