Sony-Ranti-Mendy: star foreigners main cause of concern for clubs ahead of Kolkata Derby

JUST FOUR DAYS before the all-important first Kolkata Derby of the I-League season, the main concern of the coaches of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are around their star foreign players.

Mohun Bagan fans and officials breathed a collective sigh of relief when Sony Norde finally turned up in Kolkata yesterday. Having him in the team means a solid boost in fire-power in the team. But Sanjay Sen is taking nothing for granted; yesterday he declared that he would not field Sony Norde in a game until he was certain of the Haitian winger's physical fitness. 

This morning Norde joined the team's practice session for the first time this season. He spent much of the time taking part in a recovery session under Bagan physio Djair Miranda Garcia. TFG understands that this was mainly due to his fatigue from a 30 hour journey all the way from Panama to Kolkata. Joining him was fellow winger Subash Singh, who is in the process of recovering from an injury.

Sony Norde and Subhaah Singh under keen observation of @MohunBagan physio @djairgarcia in Practice today. #EbarAbar pic.twitter.com/VNyZpNnEih

— Sourav Ghosh (@souravscorner) January 19, 2016

A ten minute walk away from the Mohun Bagan tent, a similar scene was visible at the East Bengal ground. The team was practicing as usual but the striker-in-chief of the Red and Golds, Ranti Martins, was training on his own, away from the rest of the squad. This is due to a sprain he picked up during the match against Mumbai FC. According to Ranti, it's nothing much to worry about, but the doctor has advised him to be careful for the next few days. Ranti is expected to continue his solo training tomorrow as well.

But East Bengal coach Biswajit Bhattacharya is not particularly worried about Ranti. He is expected to make a full recovery ahead of Saturday's Derby. He and other club officials are more worried about their new recruit, defender Bernard Mendy, who is being brought in on loan from Chennaiyin FC. The problem with the transfer is that getting the paperwork in order is taking time, and in order for Mendy to be available for the Derby he must complete the signing and registration by Wednesday evening. It's Tuesday afternoon when this article is being written and Mendy is still not in the city. But efforts are on to fly him in by tomorrow morning so that the signing can be completed on time.

But then there's the question of whether or not he can fit into the new team on such a short notice. Bhattacharya is not in favour of playing anyone prematurely, especially on an occasion like the Kolkata Derby. In that case the Red and Golds may have to go in for without Mendy on Saturday.