Halicharan Narzary joins Hyderabad FC on two-year deal

The 26-year-old featured for Kerala Blasters in the ISL 2019-20 season and will be a welcome addition to Albert Roca's side.

Building up to the new season, Indian Super League side Hyderabad FC have confirmed the arrival of experienced winger Halicharan Narzary. The 26-year-old Assamese speedster joins from Kerala Blasters and has penned a two-year deal with the club till the end of the 2021-22 season.

Narzary, who joins Subrata Paul as the second new arrival at Hyderabad FC this season, brings in tremendous experience to the squad. The winger has played at the top level for seven teams in the last decade, with four of them in the Indian Super League. He has made a total of 59 appearances in the competition so far and is among the top-30 in the competition’s appearance list.

“I am very happy to join Hyderabad FC. It’s a new team and personally an exciting challenge for me. I am eager to regroup with my new teammates soon, hopefully once the situation is better, and get down to playing football. I have known Albert Roca for some time now since his first stint in India and working with his philosophy is something that motivates me. I have loved how his teams used to play and I think these are exciting times for the club,” said Narzary after completing formalities.

Hyderabad FC Head Coach Albert Roca expressed his joy of having a hard-working player on the squad as he said, “Narzary is an exciting player and has been a valuable asset for both club and country over the last few years. His experience and work rate coupled with his skill set, and the ability to play on either flank and in attack will be important for us as a team this season. We’re very happy to have him and hope he will have a significant impact for us in the ISL.”

Hailing from Kokrajhar in Assam, Halicharan Narzary began his career in 2010 with AIFF’s developmental side Indian Arrows which plied trade in the I-League. A move to Goan giants Dempo SC followed in 2013, where he spent three seasons. During this time, he also turned out for FC Goa and NorthEast United in the Indian Super League. Thereafter he joined NorthEast (2016) in ISL’s third season before turning out for I-League side Shivajians FC (2017).

The winger was the Highlanders’ first pick in the 2017 ISL Draft as he stayed in Guwahati for one more season, before moving south to join Kerala Blasters in 2018. Narzary spent the latter half of his first season with the Blasters on loan with Chennaiyin FC, before returning to the Kochi-side and becoming a crucial part of the team under Eelco Schattorie in 2019-20.

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An India-international, Narzary has also played for the youth national teams at the U19 and the U23 level while being a regular with the senior national team since 2015 when he was part of the SAFF Championship winning side. He also played all three games and bagged an assist in India’s campaign at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in UAE.

At Hyderabad, Halicharan Narzary will team up with his national teammates and believes it will help their chemistry and benefit the team even more. “I have played with quite a few of the players from the team before as well. We have a few players from the national team among us like Adil, Nikhil and Subrata, which adds to the value of our squad. The experience and the quality that they bring in together will be crucial for us this season and I hope we can leave a mark,” he added.