27y/o Ibrox ace names which club he wants to end career with – and it’s not Rangers
Rangers defender Filip Helander has revealed that he is aiming to end his career with Malmo, the club where the 27-year-old began his professional journey.
Helander moved to Scotland from Serie A side Bologna in 2019 and has gone on to make 35 appearances for Rangers.
The Sweden international was beset by injuries last campaign but has clocked up 14 Scottish Premiership games so far this season.
He was a regular at the start of 2020/21 but a mixture of fitness issues and the consistent partnership of Connor Goldson and Leon Balogun at the heart of the Gers defence has made it difficult for him to force his way back in.
Appearing for the first time in 2021 against Ross County on Saturday though Helander scored the second goal of the match in a 5-0 Ibrox rout.
It does not appear that a move away is imminent but peaking to Swedish outlet Expressen, Helander divulged his future football aspirations, saying: “The hope I have is to be able to end my career in Malmö, I have talked to Ponne (Pontus Jansson) about us doing it together.”
Going nowhere yet
At 27-years-old Helander surely has plenty left in the tank at Ibrox.
He is still yet to fully establish himself as a first-team fixture in Steven Gerrard’s starting XI but there have been encouraging signs.
Per Wyscout Helander ranks third for defensive duel success in the division with 78.95% while he also forces his way into the top 10 for aerial duels (68.63%).
His comfort on the ball is shown in his 90.97% pass accuracy but even this is dwarfed by Balogun’s 94.69% which puts the Nigeria international third in the Premiership, so perhaps this an area to improve on further to edge ahead.
Goldson is firmly cemented as the number one Gers centre back but there is room for Helander to establish himself alongside him if he can put a consistent run of games together.
Balogun is 32-years-old and is on a shorter-term deal so Gerrard will be looking for Helander to start stepping up.
Talk of a Malmo move should still be a few years away yet with the Swede showing he still has plenty to offer in Scotland yet.
In other Rangers news, club closes in on Bournemouth pair after cup snub.