Leon Aderemi Balogun (born 28 June 1988) is a German-Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Club career
He made his Bundesliga debut on 19 April 2009 for Hannover 96 in a game against Hamburger SV.
After his contract with 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf had been expired in summer 2014, he was without a club for three months until he joined fellow leaguer Darmstadt 98. He signed a contract until the end of the 2014–15 season.[
Brighton & Hove Albion
On 22 May 2018, Balogun signed a two-year deal with Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Balogun made his competitive debut for the Sussex club coming on as an early substitute against Manchester United replacing injured Lewis Dunk. The Seagulls went on to beat United 3–2 at The Amex.
Balogun scored his first goal for the Albion to make it 2–0 against bitter rivals Crystal Palace at The Amex where he scored in 25 seconds after being subbed on replacing Pascal Groß as a result of a Shane Duffy red card for head butting. The game finished 3–1 to the Albion to claim the boasting rights in the M23 derby.
International career
Born to a Nigerian father and German mother, Balogun was called up by Nigeria for a March 2014 friendly against Mexico as a replacement for Joseph Yobo. Balogun entered at the half, but was injured after 20 minutes in a collision with signage on the touchline. He fractured his foot and was to miss 2–3 months after surgery. However, he later confirmed to news media that his injury did not require surgery.
On 25 March 2015, he played his second game for Nigeria in a 1–0 loss against Uganda. He played his third game for the country on 13 June 2015 when he featured in a 2–0 win over Chad in the opening game of qualifying for the 2017 African Nations Cup.
In June 2018, he was named in Nigeria’s final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Personal life
Balogun was born to a Nigerian-Yoruba father and a German mother. Balogun was raised Roman Catholic and sent to Catholic school from a young age, but he resent his strict upbringing and became an Atheist in his formative years. However during the hardships of early footballing career Balogun started believing in God again and is now a devout Christian.Balogun speaks fluent English and German, but does not speak Yoruba, the language of his father as his parents tried to assimilate him in German cultur
