MANAGER Michael Beale has shared his delight at welcoming Leon Balogun back to Rangers as the squad continue their intense pre-season training camp in Germany.
Beale sat down exclusively with RangersTV to discuss the summer recruitment so far, the first few days of the pre-season camp and provided an injury update on the squad.
Balogun became the seventh signing of the transfer window following the arrivals of Kieran Dowell, Jack Butland, Dujon Sterling, Sam Lammers, Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers.
Speaking on the return of Balogun, Beale said: “He is a player we all know, he is a fantastic man and he is an excellent football player. He was here in a really successful period in the team, and I have a lot of trust in him as a person and as a football player.
“It is early in the summer so there are going to be more signings coming in and out, we have a really fixed idea on some of the work we are doing and it is ongoing. Leon [Balogun] is someone I have been speaking to the last few weeks, he has been working away with his fitness and he is in a good place so we are delighted that he comes back and joins us.”
Reflecting on the first few days of pre-season, the manager continued: “It is a fantastic venue, it is everything I want it to be. The planning from the staff has been great to come here and be very private and very secluded so that we can bring a new group together. It has been really good to see the new players integrating.
“We have been working really hard, the heat has been difficult for training, but we are in the middle of the week now, the players are in good shape and there is a lot of optimism in the air.”
Beale provided an update on the squad, with Dujon Sterling missing out on the training camp through injury and Leon King picking up an ankle injury while in Germany.
He added: “Dujon worked extremely hard over the summer and came back and looked powerful and strong. It is a small problem and it was easier for us to keep him at home because we have got a group of players at home with Tom Lawrence, Steven Davis and Connor Goldson working there.
“On the injury front we have some excellent news that Connor Goldson is progressing very well, Tom Lawrence will join the team the moment we return home and Kemar Roofe has joined in the last two sessions so it is really pleasing that we are making great strides.
“Having Mark Waller back in working with John Urwin and his team and Jack Ade and his team is a real benefit for everybody. It is a desperately frustrating and sad one for Leon [King], it is a significant injury and we don't want to put a timeline on it just yet because we have immediately scanned it in the last 24 hours.
“With these things you need to give it probably another 24 hours after that to see the true extent but we had to go and do that locally to see if there were any breaks.
“We have no official update other than it is definitely a significant injury that is more months than weeks. We'll all support him through this moment, it's a horrible time for any player to get injured at the start of a new season.”
RangersTV subscribers can watch the exclusive interview with Michael Beale here or you can watch a short trailer below.