I-League Qualifier 2020 -- Asheer Akhtar joins Mohammedan Sporting
25 YEAR OLD DEFENDER Asheer Akhtar, who played for East Bengal last season, has joined Mohammedan Sporting.
The former Pune FC youth player cut his teeth into senior football at Lonestar Kashmir and Salgaocar before making his top division debut at Mumbai FC in 2016-17.
Soon he was signed by Bengaluru FC and played for their reserve team before joining the first team in 2018. He didn't make an appearance in the domestic league but appeared for the Blues twice in AFC Cup against Abahani and TC Sports Club.
In 2019-20 he played regularly in the I-League and scored his first goal in a major competition when he struck the net against Indian Arrows.
Mohammedan Sporting, who will play in the I-League Qualifier tournament (the re-branded version of 2nd Division League's final round which got postponed from last season) in October, are one of the frontrunners in gaining promotion. The squad they are building is aimed at being competitive not in the qualifiers but in the I-League as well; and signings like Asheer Akhtar who hold the promise of a long spell with the Black Panthers should they succeed in establishing themselves at a higher level reflects their newfound ambitions.
