This article forms part of our Total Duds feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how bad a deal the club got.
The dust had barely settled on Brighton’s first season in the Premier League when they secured Nigeria defender Leon Balogun on a free transfer from Mainz in May 2018. Seagulls fans got an early glimpse of what the new man had to offer as he played in all three of his country’s games in that summer’s World Cup.
His addition was met with enthusiasm by many of the Amex Stadium faithful and his debut came on a memorable day for the club, the 3-2 win over Manchester United in their first home game of 2018/19. However, with Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk a firmly established centre-back partnership at Brighton, chances to impress did not come along too regularly for Balogun.
He went more than three months without making a Premier League appearance but the wait proved to be worth it. Duffy’s red card in the M23 derby against Crystal Palace in December 2018 prompted a tactical reshuffle from Chris Hughton which saw Balogun replacing Pascal Gross. The defender’s first touch of the ball was a brilliant volley into the Eagles’ net to put Brighton 2-0 up on a night when they secured a 3-1 victory over their fiercest rivals (via BBC).
The Nigerian kept his place in the team for the rest of the month but the Dunk-Duffy double act was soon restored and Balogun did not make a single Premier League appearance from January onward in his first season in England. He featured in only eight league games in 2018/19 and three of those were as a substitute. [via TransferMarkt]
On reflection, the supreme aerial ability of Dunk and Duffy made them difficult to displace. The Englishman won 3.3 headers per game in 2018/19, with the Ireland defender winning a mammoth 5.3. Balogun, on the other hand, averaged just 1.6 successful aerial duels per game. [via WhoScored]
The sacking of Hughton and subsequent appointment of Graham Potter did little to change his fortunes. The 31-year-old played just twice for Brighton in 2019/20, both in domestic cup competitions, and he was allowed to drop down to the Championship in January when signing on loan for Wigan.
Balogun won’t play a part for his parent club for the rest of this season, either, after Potter confirmed last week that the defender would remain with the Latics until the 2019/20 campaign finishes.
[freshpress-poll id=”304724″]
Twenty months elapsed between him signing for Brighton and going on loan to Wigan, in which time the Nigerian managed a paltry 12 appearances in all competitions. With the highly-rated Ben White due to return from Leeds in a few weeks’ time, competition for centre-back places at the Amex Stadium will grow even fiercer.
Balogun will always have that famous volley against Crystal Palace but, with the passage of time, that looks increasingly like being his only memorable moment in a Seagulls career that has never truly got going.
Brighton fans, has Balogun been a disappointment in his time at the Amex Stadium? Comment below with your views!
