Salam Ranjan Singh

Salam Ranjan Singh

This talented centre back hails from the state of Manipur. He is 20 years old and already 6 foot 2, so expect an inch or two to be added by the time he fully blossoms as a player.

Salam was a discovery of a state sports official who took him to the trials of Pune FC in Imphal. The promising youngster was immediately taken into the fold of what back then was one of the best academy setups in the country. He became a regular in the Pune FC junior team that won the I-League U-20 twice in a row, and was seen as an example of successful youth development model for the rest of the country to follow.

After 3 years of climbing up the academy ladder, Salam finally got a senior team debut in 2013. He played his first I-League game on 2nd November that year, in a 2-0 away loss against Sporting Clube de Goa. He made quite a few appearances for the Red Lizards during the Mike Snoei era, and even got to play some AFC Cup matches. He made 21 total appearances for Pune FC until they disbanded their first team in 2015.

But recognizing his potential, Bengaluru FC immediately snapped him up on a long term contract. Today, he continues his development at that club, and has made cameo appearances in some I-League and AFC Cup matches for his new club as well.

This is the first time Salam Ranjan Singh has been loaned out to an ISL franchise. And there's not much chance to see him regularly because he will only join NEUFC after Bengaluru FC wrap up their AFC Cup campaign; which means he will miss the pre-season, and perhaps the first few weeks of the ISL. But even if he doesn't get to play much, there's no denything that he is one of the most promising players NEUFC have on their roster; and somebody for Indian football fans to look forward to in the future. If he gets some playing time during this ISL it will definitely help with his development process.