Want to do well in Uruguay and play in first division, reveals Bijay Chhetri

Bijay Chhetri wants to make his country proud by playing on foreign soil.

Bijay Chhetri made waves recently as he secured a historic milestone in Indian football, becoming the first Indian player to ink a professional contract with an Uruguayan club. In a ground-breaking move, Chhetri signed a six-month deal with second-division side Colon FC, facilitated by a loan arrangement from his parent club, Chennaiyin FC. Shedding light on the journey behind this landmark move, Bijay Chhetri and his agent, Kuldeep Sharma, engaged in an exclusive conversation with Khel Now. 

From the intricacies of the transfer process to Bijay’s aspirations, the duo delved into candid discussions, offering insights into Bijay’s ‘Bijoy’ venture.

On how the move came about?

The conversation started with Bijay describing the moment on how the move came about. He also shared his upbeatness to prove his worth and mentioned, “The move came through my agent. Even I wanted to go and show my talent in another country, so other Indian young players could come after me. That’s the reason I thought about joining the club. I don’t know what to say but this is the best opportunity of my life. I have to go and do my best for my country, not for myself. I’m very motivated and want to go there and perform well, and make India proud.”

On lack of game-time in ISL

Since signing for the Marina Machans last summer, Bijay Chhetri had not played a single minute. However, the 22-year-old is unbothered about the lack of playing time and his only aim is to showcase his talent. “No, about the game, like game-time and all, it’s not that difficult. I can go and manage myself. I can do it, I can train well and can prove to my new coach,” he asserted.

First reactions on the interest of the club

The young centre-back spoke about his first reaction when he came to know about the interest and shared his thoughts regarding the same. He said, “I am making my family proud. I am making everyone proud. I am making my country proud. No, this is just the beginning. I have to go there and do it. This is just the beginning of the done deal. Now it’s up to me to decide what to do and how to do it.”

Family reaction

When questioned as to how the family reacted to the move, he replied that his family was worried about him moving to an unknown country and living all alone. Bijay Chhetri said, “My family was a little worried because I am not that old. I am 22 and young for my family. However, I am old enough for my football career. For my family, they were worried about how I will live there, how will I eat and all. But I will do it if I do it now, it will be good for my future and I have accepted it.”

Brother’s support

Bijay has an older brother Ajay Chhetri who plies his trade for East Bengal in the ISL. He believes that his brother’s support was instrumental in him signing a deal with Colon FC.

“My brother is also a footballer, he plays in the ISL and gave me his full support and said go and play well. He said he will be happy as long as I do well and my agent also supported me a lot. Moreover the Chennaiyin FC CEO also supported me a lot,” Bijay revealed.

He further went on and quoted, “Everyone’s work is done, now my work is left. I have to work hard and do it.”

On his aspirations in Uruguay

The Manipuri defender spoke about his aspirations in Uruguay and stated that he is willing to extend his stay beyond this six-month deal. He wishes to play his club football in Uruguay and plans to play in the Uruguayan first division someday.

“It’s not like I wanted to go there and play for six months and come back. I want to do well in Uruguay and showcase a good performance. If I show a good performance and get signed by a first division team, it will be good for my future. I can become a better player by doing this.”

Furthermore, he went on and added, “What’s the point? I want to be here and play for many clubs in the future. That’s my football career. I will play for my country whenever I am called up, but I want to play for the professional football clubs. That’s my dream. I have received a lot of help from everyone.”

On the complexity of the deal

Kuldeep Sharma, Bijay’s agent shed light on how complex it was to get the deal done and how Chennaiyin FC helped for the smooth operation of Bijay’s transfer.

“Pratham Basu (Head of Football of Chennaiyin FC) was very important in getting the entire thing through because obviously, one is the technical side, and the second is also the business side of it and the ways of working in the two markets are very different from each other and to make something so complicated and for the first time, it takes a lot of patience and understanding and willingness. To be able to make it happen right you need flexibility in your side.

“Hence, with Chennai and my point of (contact), obviously we spoke to some other people as well, but Pratham was the main point of contact,” Kuldeep Sharma reckoned.

Visa Issues

The other complexity in the deal was the Visa issue as the Uruguayan Embassy In India took its time to get the formalities as Bijoy was the first sportsperson from India seeking an Employment Visa.

On that note, Kuldeep informed Khel Now, “The Uruguayan agency was also surprised and took their time because they were also unaware as Bijay was the first sportsperson (from India) to apply for an employment visa.”

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