Mohun Bagan, who definitely becomes the most challenging side in the I-League after the exit of Bengaluru FC, have roped in as many as seven players in a span of 24 hours following the ISL Player Draft 2017 on Sunday July 23.
May be they just tried being sly enough, but fact remains Mohun Bagan have executed the move brilliantly.
The Indian football giants wasted no time at all to swiftly swoop on some of the talented unsold players from the draft with some elan! One of those talented seven players include former East Bengal FC man Abhishek Das, who surprisingly was not re-signed by Chennaiyin FC, the Indian Super League side he played for in the past.
Das, despite being a Tata Football Academy (TFA) graduate, was also snubbed by the TATA Steel-owned Jamshedpur FC. The ISL newbies started off with the purchase of former TFA graduate Subrata Paul in the ISL Player Draft 2017 and it was expected the new franchisee would make an effort to hold on to their former star alumni.
List of players Mohun Bagan have bought:
- Abhishek Das (Full back)
- Nikhil Kadam (Attacking midfielder)
- Israil Gurung (Winger)
- Debabrata Roy (Full back)
- Shilton D'Silva (Midfielder)
- Denson Devadas (Midfielder)
- Gurjinder Singh (Defender)
Just before the start of the upcoming season of I-League, which runs parallely with the ISL 2017, possibly from November, Mohun Bagan ply their trade in the revered Calcutta Football League (CFL) Premier Division A, which is expected to start in August.
Sanjoy Sen's assistant Shankarlal Chakraborty has been handed the role of the chief coach for the tenure of the tournament while Sen has been given the role of a mentor. However, fret not, Sanjoy Sen will be back as the head coach of Mohun Bagan when the new season of I-League gets under way.
Mohun Bagan, who will be looking to crushing the monopoly their arch-rivals East Bengal hold in the CFL, are possibly playing their home matches at the Mohun Bagan Club Ground.
"There is always pressure to coach a team like Mohun Bagan. Our target is obviously to win the Calcutta league. But, we don't want to put any extra pressure on the players," said Shankarlal Chakraborty to the Times of India.
"I have told the players on trial to not get nervous and express themselves freely. They will be given enough time to prove their worth."
The foreign players of Mohun Bagan for CFL 2017:
- Eze Kingsley Obummeme - Defender - Nigeria
- Ansumana Kromah - Attacking midfielder - Liberia
- Stephen Bayi Kamo - Striker - Ivory Coast
