Five ways in which signing Jason Cummings will benefit Mohun Bagan Super Giant

The 2023 A-League finals man of the match will be a valuable addition to the Mariners.

Mohun Bagan Super Giant are poised to make a statement signing in the form of Australian international forward Jason Cummings. The former Rangers striker is expected to be their major summer signing and become one of the highest-paid players in the Indian Super League (ISL).

Cummings arrives at the club with a near-decade-long experience of playing in Europe as well as in Australia. The Scottish-born striker comes with an impressive CV, having featured for the likes of Nottingham Forest, Hibernian, and Rangers in the past.

An out-and-out striker with a sense of unpredictability to his style, Cummings’ arrival can amplify the Mariners’ attacking prowess after they experienced major issues in scoring last season. Here are five ways his addition can benefit Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

5. Give more creative thrust

Even though he is more renowned for his goal-scoring ability, Cummings is not a one-trick pony. He has a lot of skills up his sleeve. It includes the ability to drop back and make things happen, linking up well with his midfielders. In modern football, the center-forward has to be flexible enough to drop out of their position and create chances – something Cummings is adept at doing.

The Australian forward is known for his ability to move out into wide areas to create chances while also allowing his teammates to take up the empty spaces in the final third. The 27-year-old will mostly be dependent on delivering the goals, but he can definitely add a sense of unpredictability by creating chances and often moving out of position to keep defenders guessing.

4. Allow Juan Ferrando to try out different variations

The arrival of Cummings will definitely be a blessing for Juan Ferrando, who can now look to try out new things with the Mariners. Last season, injuries and the unavailability of quality options in the attack forced him to go with the same predictable pattern. However, with the arrival of the Australian forward, he can now try out new things to spark up the attack.

Be it finding a way to fit the troika of Cummings, Dimitri Petratos and Hugo Boumous together, or getting the new signing to be well adapted to a system with Indian attackers around him, there is a greater scope for Ferrando to think about tweaking things. He could now field fresher-looking forward lines, rotate his players without major tension and create a sense of unpredictability in the forward line.

3. A major goal-scoring option

Well, the writing is on the wall with this one. The biggest plus point of the 27-year-old forward’s arrival will be how he can amplify Mohun Bagan’s goal-scoring ability next season. Last time out, too much responsibility was placed on Dimitri Petratos – and even though he did his best – he wasn’t the consistent goal-machine the club wanted. Cummings can probably fill that void for the Mariners, having scored 28 goals in 49 games for the Central Coast Mariners over the last year. He is a deft mover who is extremely clinical in the box and a major threat from outside the box as well.

Cummings thrives with his long-range attempts and often likes to cut inside from wide areas to set up major scoring chances for himself. The 27-year-old is blessed with versatility in finishing, be it from tricky spots or close-range finishes. Going by his impressive goal numbers at the A-League club, Cummings should be the consistent goal-scorer Mohun Bagan are craving for. It won’t be surprising if he surpasses the 15-20 goal mark in the ISL next season.

2. Give Juan Ferrando the chance to switch formations

Ferrando mostly opted to play a 4-2-3-1 formation with the Mariners last season, which saw Petratos playing as the No. 9 who in turn had to drop back to make things happen. But Cummings’ arrival automatically improves the quality of options for Ferrando in the attacking third. As a result, he could potentially tinker his formation at times to keep his side from becoming predictable.

Mohun Bagan can switch to a 4-3-3 formation, as Petratos can play on the left-wing if needed. They could even revert to a 4-4-2, with the two Australian strikers spearheading the attack. While Ferrando probably needs some time to understand Cummings’ biggest strengths and get him adapted to the team, the 27-year-old’s effective nature in the final third can allow the coach to build different variations of an attacking pattern around him.

1. Can form a formidable partnership with Dimi Petratos

Mohun Bagan Super Giant can be the home of arguably the most menacing forward lineup in the ISL next season. Dimitri Petratos already proved how good he can be last season, being a threat when it came to scoring and setting-up goals. He did all that with very little support up front. Cummings’ arrival can add to Petratos' burgeoning returns. The two Aussie forwards are not exactly like-for-like players. However, they both possess specific skillsets that can benefit one another.

While Petratos is likely to take a bigger creative role next season in setting up chances with his clever final third passes or set-pieces, Cummings will be relied to disorganize opposition backlines with his movement and be in the right places to score goals consistently. These two can terrorize defenders with their link-up play and ability to conjure chances out of nothing. On top of that, if Hugo Boumous is somehow added to the recipe, it could spell disaster for ISL teams and greatly amplify Mohun Bagan’s ability to score lot more goals next season.