Antonio Habas to stay the head coach of ATK-Mohun Bagan

Sanjiv Goenka also announced that the club had secured the services of India international duo Subhasish Bose and Manvir Singh ahead of a busy summer.

Antonio Lopez Habas will continue to stay as the head coach of the new ATK-Mohun Bagan joint entity that will compete in the Indian Super League from next season onward.

This statement was made by the club's owner Sanjiv Goenka in the team’s celebration event after their victory in the final against Chennaiyin FC. Goenka said, “Yes (he will be the head coach). I think there’s something in the stars. If we work together, we succeed together.”

To put things into perspective, Mohun Bagan, the club who ATK are merging with won the I-League with four games to spare in the ongoing campaign. Hence, it put forth a very peculiar situation, as Vicuna too proved his mettle by guiding the Mariners to a peerless run this season.

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Regarding him, Goenka remarked, “Vicuna is also a very good coach. Let’s see what happens.” The Spaniard’s contract with Mohun Bagan expires at the end of this season.

Both these Kolkata-based clubs announced their merger from the next football season on January 16, 2020. The RPSG Group acquired an 80% stake in Bagan and would come together as a unified organization from June 1st this year. Fortunately, they are beginning this union on an extremely positive note, with the duo emerging as the champions in their respective leagues in the 2019/20 season.

With a coalition of such a high stature in Indian football, it is a given that several formalities must still be remaining to be resolved. However, Goenka set the tone from the very top by announcing that Habas would remain as the head coach and that will help things fall into place gradually as time progresses.

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More importantly, Goenka also announced further plans by confirming that the Indian international duo of Subhasish Bose and Manvir Singh would be joining the entity in the transfer window. Bose leaving Mumbai City FC for ATK was first confirmed by Khel Now Football exclusively back in January itself.

He further spoke on the coming times by stating, “Till now we were planning for the season which just got over. Now, with the I-League and the ISL under our belt, we will start planning for the next season which starts tomorrow.”

This was Antonio Habas’ second ISL title with ATK. He had won the league in its inaugural season in 2014 with them and returned back at the helm in 2019. However, the way in which he manages to build on the ongoing momentum with a larger squad and more responsibilities remains to be seen.

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