Santosh Trophy: Five players who deserve to play in top clubs

These players were impressive throughout the competition, and will certainly on the wish list of top clubs

The 76th edition of the Santosh Trophy has come to a majestic end, with Karnataka winning the competition after a daunting wait of 54 long years. But this triumph didn’t come to the 'Mysorians' easily, as they had to work their socks off, and leave behind some very difficult teams like Kerala, Services and Meghalaya to reach this feat.

Other teams like Meghalaya also made history, by qualifying for the Finals of the Santosh Trophy for the very first time, after defeating eight-time champions Punjab.

The mighty Services ended their campaign losing to a strong Punjab in the third-place tie and finished as the fourth-placed side.

Throughout the competition, we got to witness some great players, who impressed a lot with their performances and abilities. Undoubtedly, they deserve to be possible transfer targets of some elite Indian clubs. Some of these players are mentioned below.

Robin Yadav

The winner of the player of the tournament award, Karnataka’s Robin Yadav was surely the biggest star from the Santosh Trophy 2022-23. The 19-year-old, who is a part of Bengaluru FC and plied his trade in the RFDL and Next Gen Cup 2022, was solid at the back throughout the tournament, and played a major role in his team’s triumph. The youngster also scored two incredible free-kicks in the knockouts - one against Punjab in the semi-final and the other in the final against Meghalaya. The grand finale saw him celebrate his goal like legendary Cristiano Ronaldo.

Rajat Paul Lyngdoh

Meghalaya's man in between the sticks, Rajat Paul Lyngdoh had a great competition. His heroics that contributed to his team’s performance in the competition. With many Indian clubs in want of an Indian keeper, we might very well see Bordoloi being subjected to a big move in the future.

Shafeel PP

Services also had a brilliant campaign at their disposal, and finished as the fourth-placed team of the Santosh Trophy 2022-23. In reaching this feat, one player had an important role to play, and that was Shafeel PP. Shafeel did an incredibly good job in managing Services’ backline, and helped his team secure four clean sheets from seven games in the competition. The centre-back also scored in Services’ third-place game against Punjab. Last year, he played four matches in the Durand Cup as well, although it was for Army Red.

Sheen Stevenson

Sheen Stevenson is actually a surprise inclusion in the list, as not many would’ve predicted him to have done particularly well in the tournament. But the 27-year-old did well to prove his critics wrong, and scored two goals in the competition, one coming in the form of a late winner against Punjab, and another in the final against Karnataka. Other than that, Sheen also posed great attacking threat throughout the competition.

Ronaldkydon Lyngdoh Nonglait

Ronaldkydon Lyngdoh had a campaign to remember, as he was the top-scorer for Meghalaya in their historic run, which saw them finish second in one of India’s most prestigious football competitions. Lyngdoh turned up in crucial moments of the game, and scored some really important goals that helped his team qualify for the knockout stages.