A return to Rangers for fan favourite Leon Balogun is being touted by some of the diehard punters - and it looks to be a move the defender would jump at given his claims he caught "blue fever" at Ibrox.
The Nigerian international was sold on a move to the English Championship last summer by Michael Beale after claiming the Premiership crown and Scottish Cup during his time in Govan - but his is now a free agent after his one-yard deal was not extended by Gareth Ainsworth. Beale has since left London to take on the number one job at Ibrox and speculation has ramped up that Balogun could reunite with his former boss this summer to bolster the backline.
Claims are circulating that the 35-year-old has already undergone a medical before a return to The Light Blues - and Balogun has already strongly hinted he has unfinished business in Govan. The centre-back has been spotted in the stands taking in Rangers games - and speaking to the Beautiful Game podcast earlier this year Balogun admitted he didn't want to walk away from the club.
He said: "For me it was a sad departure from Rangers. I loved the club and I really got infected by the Blue Fever, and that’ll be for life. It’s not that I regret being at QPR now but it was a heartbreak for me to leave Rangers.
"It was because I did not leave Rangers, I was released. That’s the fair way to put it. And I did not really expect it. At one point down the line I got prepared for it, but I still not expect it.
“We were talking about a new contract but I didn’t ever receive an offer and it was just conversations really. I asked my agent around March what was going on because my contract was coming to an end.
“I told him it was clear I wanted to stay as I had found my football home there. That’s what Disco, one of the masseuses, used to say ‘you have found home here,’ and that hit home for me because I never thought about it like that.
“But he was right. We were busy with games at the time and then there was a meeting for them to decide. They were talking about the legalities about the contract and what they thought it could look like.
“It was pretty much about agreeing a base, a foundation of how we were going to carry on from there. But to me it felt like a drag. At the end of the day, we sent them an offer a few days before my contract ended.
“We didn’t hear anything back from them and then on May 31 I got a call from my agent to say they weren’t going to do it. From what I’ve been told, the manager was not too sure about it and that the Sporting Director Ross Wilson tried to convince him. Then they had him on board but then it was a constant back and forth, back and forth.
“At one point I thought it was going to go quite quickly because they told me ‘we want to keep you and we will find a solution blah blah blah.' But then on the final day they said, ‘no, we can’t come to a conclusion and we think it’s better, if we can’t come to a 100 percent decision, that we let things end the way they are.’ It was a tough one to take, really."
One fan on Twitter said: "I’d bring Leon Balogun back just for his coolness. The big fella should never have been let go." Another Gers fan chimed in: "People talking about Leon Balogun - bring him back!"
Another rounded off: "Leon Balogun brought in until the end of the season for free is the latest rumour. It’s not an ‘exciting’ signing but he’s being brought in to be back-up to the back-up."
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