Jose Mourinho ‘Very Special Character’ Believes Rangers Star | OneFootball

Rangers centre-back Leon Balogun has admitted Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho has a special character and believes the football world remains entertaining because of people like him.

The Gers are set to travel to Istanbul to face the Yellow Canaries on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie.

Rangers have endured a poor season domestically, sitting second in the Scottish Premiership table, 16 points behind rivals Celtic and were knocked out in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park last month.

However, the Gers have performed well in Europe this campaign, finishing in the top eight in the Europa League league phase and securing automatic qualification to the Round of 16.

If Rangers are to go any further then they will have to get the better of Mourinho’s Fenerbahce and Balogun is full of admiration for the manager, who he feels football needs.

The 36-year-old defender revealed that he enjoys listening to Mourinho’s press conferences and even recalled his Premier League debut, as he played for a Brighton & Hove Albion side that defeated the Portuguese’s Manchester United 3-2.

Balogun said in a press conference (6:18): “I think I played against Mourinho only once if he was the [Manchester United] manager actually.

“That was my Premier League debut and we beat him with Brighton 3-2 at home.

“So that was a very fun memory, but I mean he is a very big character a very big manager in the football world and there’s a lot of respect that you need to have for his name.

“I personally enjoy his press conferences because a lot of people call him arrogant, might be.

Mourinho joined Fenerbahce ahead of the 2024/25 season, after he was sacked by Roma in January 2024.

The Yellow Canaries have been fine form ahead of their game against the Gers in the Europa League, winning five of their last six games in the Turkish Super Lig.

On the other hand, Balogun will look to help Rangers bounce back after their latest 2-1 defeat against Motherwell in Scottish Premiership, as the club aim to beat Fenerbahce and progress to the quarter-finals.