East Bengal and Mohun Bagan come alive in the transfer market ahead of I-League 2016-17
THE KOLKATA CLUBS are slowly coming active on the pitch and the transfer market as the start of I-League draws nearer.
Both East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, who have been sidelined by the exclusive window granted to ISL. Most of their prominent players are also away playing at the tournament. The two clubs started their season with the Calcutta Football League back in July, with much younger squads that mostly featured academy graduates and players who had not picked by ISL franchises.
But after the CFL got over the clubs were mostly forced to sit out. East Bengal tried to remain as active as possible, taking part in the Bordoloi Trophy and then resuming practice for their available first team players along with the academy kids to keep them fit.
The Red and Golds have also become active in the transfer market and seem to have bagged 4 promising Indian players; Jackichand Singh, Rowllin Borges, David Lalrinmuana and Robin Gurung. The inclusion of these players will no longer bolster their roster come I-League; and it appears that they are knee-deep in the race to sign two of the biggest stars of their arch rivals Mohun Bagan: Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sony Norde. But with Bengaluru FC in the frey for both of them as well, and Bagan also desperate to hold onto them, there's no predicting how the three-way race will play out over the next month or so. (Although Sony Norde has said that after the love he has received from Mohun Bagan fans he can't imagine playing for East Bengal)
Mohun Bagan, meanwhile, are a bit behind in terms of team-building and seem to be looking more inwards. For them, it's more about holding onto their succesful players than looking for new ones. After winning the I-League and Federation Cup over the last two seasons and impressing in the AFC Cup group stage, many of their players are being actively pursued by other clubs; not just Norde and Jeje and it's a fight for the club to hold onto each of them. Only the likes of Katsumi Yusa and Kean Lewis, who are on a longer term contract with the club, are safe bets.
The club officials had hoped that many of the younger players from the Calcutta Football League squad would step up to the plate for the I-League but after a less-than-memorable campaign in the local league the results are lukewarm. Two of the foreigners they brought on for CFL - Daniel Bidemi and Zohib Islam Amiri - are already on their way out. The club officials also wanted to release Duffy on account of 'not proving himself' to the extent that they wanted to in the CFL, but head coach Sanjoy Sen reportedly insisted on keeping him in the league.
So provided the officials manage to hold onto Norde, that leaves the club still in search of a foreign defender. Rumours suggest they are in talks with FC Goa defender Gregory Arnolin, but some in the team management want to bring back Luciano Sabrosa, partly because he has already proven his talent at the club last season, and partly because he's not getting games at FC Goa and wouldn't be tired at the start of the league. (Apart from being considerably cheaper than Arnolin)
As for the players in the Calcutta Football League, there are a few who caught the eyes of the club management, and are getting included in the I-League roster. Keeper Arnab Das Sharma is one of them; a number of the people in the club see him as a potential number two after Debjit Majumder, overtaking former captain Shilton Paul. Local talents like Sarthak Golui and Pankaj Moula are also expected to feature heavily in the I-League 2016-17.
