Leon Balogun has set his sight on helping Brighton & Hove Albion maintain their English Premier League status when the 2018-19 season kicks off.
The Nigeria international agreed to join the Falmer Stadium outfit in May on a free transfer from Mainz 05 - although the deal officially takes effect from June 30.
After gaining promotion from the Championship last season, Brighton finished 15th in the EPL log with 40 points from 38 games.
“I haven’t spoken about targets too much but I think it is the target of the club to improve but the main goal is to stay in the Premier League,” Balogun told The Argus.
“Once you have reached a certain amount of points you can see what comes on top of it. From my experience of teams in Germany you always need to have a minimum target, then everything on top is just a bonus.”
On his best position on the pitch, he said: “I am right-footed so I prefer the right side.”
“I can play every position in the backline but I prefer centre-half, definitely. I ended up playing in the full-back more or less as an emergency when I played at Hanover and Werder Bremen. I am not slow and I always felt comfortable attacking down the flank.
“I had my good times in the right-back position but now I feel most comfortable at centre-half.”
Having been included in Gernot Rohr’s 30-man preliminary World Cup squad, the former Werder Bremen player is hoping to make the final cut for the global tournament in Russia.
“I think my chances are quite high. I played almost all the qualifying games,” he concluded.
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