How Mohun Bagan SG should approach the summer transfer window

The Mariners sign Panagiotis Dilmperis as their new head coach

Mohun Bagan SG are looking to bounce back strongly from their setback in the 2025-26 campaign, where they failed to retain their Indian Super League (ISL) title and witnessed rivals East Bengal clinch it ahead of them.

With that being said, Mohun Bagan need to focus on strengthening multiple key roles in the squad to be able to compete strongly on all fronts in the 2026-27 season.

The Mariners have developed a reputation for spending lavishly on top talents over the years and they need to unleash themselves once again to be able to create the strongest squad for the upcoming campaign.

As their lack of consistency in the previous campaign proved, Mohun Bagan need to resolve a number of key positions in their squad to be able to properly dominate the ISL next season.

They’ve already made a few acquisitions for the new campaign already, but there are definitely more to be made for them to be able to fire on all cylinders next season.

Here, we look at what Mohun Bagan SG must do and the areas they need to improve in the 2026 summer transfer window.

Solve the creativity issue

Mohun Bagan had a quirky 2025-26 ISL season, in which they scored 14 goals in their first four matches – only to just score nine in their remaining nine.

That itself summed up a frustrating campaign for the Mariners, who ended up having to rue their lack of ruthlessness in the attack or the necessary creative push to be able to inspire them to big victories.

That is why it’s now pivotal for the Mariners to strengthen their creative genes in the squad by signing some quality players in that attacking roles.

The Mariners already appear to have started working on that, with the signing of ex-FC Goa star Dejan Drazic.

With that being said, Mohun Bagan probably can do with another creative midfielder – ideally an Indian player as well. That would help improve the depth in their no.10 role, ensuring that players can be rotated well and injuries can be avoided.

As long as Mohun Bagan have at least 2-3 quality creative sources in their squad, they should be able to create bigger, more clear-cut chances next season to really torment their opponents.

Also Read: How East Bengal FC should approach the summer transfer window

The wide-area problem

A key reason for Mohun Bagan’s creativity troubles in the 2025-26 season was mostly because they also often struggled to create through the wide areas. Liston Colaco had a pretty underwhelming campaign in which he suffered from major inconsistency in getting goals, while Manvir Singh was not used as consistently as he did in the last few campaigns either.

Mohun Bagan’s struggles to creating chances through the wide areas proved that they need to add something new and more energetic to those lines of supply to be able to really threaten their opponents.

The Mariners need to invest in signing at least one (ideally two) young and decisive wingers, who can help raise their goal contributions and also keep the likes of Liston, Manvir & co on their toes.

If there is more strict competitiveness for the wingers positions at Mohun Bagan, the Mariners should automatically see their wide players more motivated and hungrier to get more goals to strengthen their hold on a starting role.

Hence, the Mariners need to invest in unpredictable, young wingers who can raise the element of surprise in their attack to take opposition defenders by surprise.

Back-up right-back and defensive midfielder conundrum

If Mohun Bagan want to really dominate in the ISL throughout what should be an eight-month campaign in the 2026-27 season, as well as hold their own in cup competitions, then there is need for them to further buff up some important areas of their squad.

Not only do they need to invest in more attacking talents, but they also need to harden the core of some of the key defensive areas in their lineup as well.

Last season, Asish Rai’s absence from the entire campaign meant that Abhishek Singh had to often play out-of-position on the right-back role.

He had very little back-up there, causing him to play every game and seemingly tiring out during games. To ensure that their players’ performance levels don’t drop and intense pressure doesn’t cause injuries (as it did for Rai), Mohun Bagan probably need to add another right-back to their squad as well.

They need to push for a more attack-minded right-back who can not only help out defensively, but is fearless enough to make darting overlapping runs and creating chances through solid crossing delivery.

If able to sign such a courageous full-back, it’ll add another dimension to their movement through the right-wing and allow the Mariners to add more variations to their attacking chances.

Even though Mohun Bagan appears to have signed a new midfielder in Samir Zeljkovic, they probably need to add more steel to their defensive midfield area. They need an Indian midfielder who can be an ideal play-breaker, someone who can ruin opposition attacks and protect the backline with crucial challenges.

Mohun Bagan’s defensive midfield (or no.6) role has been understaffed in recent seasons – with the likes of Anirudh Thapa and Lalengmawia Ralte slotting into that role. Instead of that, they should focus on signing a really defensively strong no.6, who can sit in front of the defence to act as an anchor in moving the ball forward—as well as stop opposition attackers with clever ball possession recovery and interceptions.

If Mohun Bagan can fulfil all these roles with quality players, then they could have a formidable squad to help them dominate the ISL like they did in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 season.

Only time will tell if the Mariners can flex their financial muscles and able to create a squad that can really put the fear into their opponents next season.

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