Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun undergoes surgery on left hand after suffering fracture

SUPER Eagles centreback Leon Balogun has had to undergo surgery on his left hand after he fractured a bone in training while with his German clubside Mainz in a development that will keep him out of action for probably the rest of the year.

Balogun, 29, returned to the treatment room days after helping the Super Eagles beat South American giants Argentina 4-2 in Krasnodar in Russia on November 14. However, upon his return to Germany, Bundesliga side Mainz 05 confirmed on its official Twitter handle that the defender suffered a fracture to his left hand on Friday and had undergone surgery.

A Nigerian Football Federation spokesman said: "We understand that he will be ready to play when we start our next round of tune-up games early next year,but we will keep monitoring him and other players. Balogun has become a reliable defender in our team and the technical committee, as well as the federation, are constantly monitoring him and others to ensure that we have our best players available when we need them."

A former Werder Bremen player who made his international debut in a 0-0 friendly against Mexico in March 2014, Balogun missed Mainz’s league clash against Cologne at the Opel Arena on Saturday, which his team won 1-0. On October 20, Balogun underwent an operation on his broken cheekbone after he was injured in his team’s 2-0 defeat by Schalke 04 in their Bundesliga clash earlier this month.

This development forced him to wear a mask while playing the Eagles against Algeria. According to reports in the German media, Balogun could return to the field in coming weeks to help Mainz, who are 12th in the Bundesliga table, move up the ladder before the Christmas break.

Mainz wrote on their Twitter handle “Leon Balogun suffered a fracture to his left hand on Friday and has undergone surgery. Luckily, he will be able to carry on playing. Get well soon, Leon."

Since becoming a member of the Super Eagles, the German-born player’s partnership with William Troost-Ekong in the heart of Nigeria’s defence has become one of the team's major strengths. Their partnership played a key role in getting Nigeria through to the Russia 2018 World Cup.