How East Bengal FC can potentially line up with new signings in 2026-27 season

A new era begins for East Bengal under Antonio Lopez Habas

East Bengal FC gear up for a new era in the 2026-27 season under head coach Antonio Lopez Habas, who has taken over as their new head coach for what could be a challenging campaign. The Torchbearers, who won the 2025-26 Indian Super League (ISL) title, have seen major changes to their squad from the previous and especially to their foreigner department.

The majority of the foreigners who impressed for them in the ISL last season have moved on, with the Kolkata giants forced to sign some noteworthy replacements for them.

On top of that, East Bengal have also added some quality Indian talents to their squad to strengthen their chance of strongly defending their ISL title as well as performing strongly in the continental competition.

East Bengal will be playing in an AFC competition this season, adding more fixtures to their schedule and forcing Habas to utilize his squad perfectly.

However, the Spanish gaffer must have a reasonable idea of what will probably be his ideal starting XI that he’ll use for the majority of the matches in the 2026-27 season.

Here, we look at how East Bengal can possibly line up with their new signings in the 2026-27 season.

Goalkeeper: Phurba Lachenpa

East Bengal surprised quite a few fans with their signing of goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa to strengthen the goalkeeping department heading into the 2026-27 season.

Lachenpa has mostly been signed because of his experience of playing in AFC competitions and because of his consistent performances for Mumbai City over the last few seasons. The 28-year-old goalkeeper kept five clean sheets in the 2025-26 ISL for the Islanders, as well as winning the ISL title twice with them over the years.

Lachenpa is going to fight Prabhsukhan Gill for the goalkeeper role, but his impressive shot-stopping ability and passing prowess should help him make quite a few appearances for East Bengal.

As long as he can maintain consistency with his heroics in goal and keep making saves on a regular basis, Phurba can win over Habas and make himself the no.1 at East Bengal.

Right-Back: Boris Singh

With East Bengal facing a bit of shortage of quality options in the right-back department, and a lot of burden coming onto Mohammed Rakip, they’ve signed Boris Singh to fix that issue.

In the 26-year-old full-back, the Torchbearers also have a highly experienced player who knows how to play against teams in continental competitions – having even played at the AFC Champions League Two with FC Goa!

Boris featured in all 13 of the Gaurs’ matches at the 2025-26 ISL, proving himself as a reliable and proactive full-back. He has the attributes to excel under the coaching of Antonio Habas, who really loves hard-working players.

Boris should bring more energy and speed to the right-wing for East Bengal, working hard not only to neutralize opposition attackers but also to add more attacking quality with his overlapping runs and chance-creation ability.

Centre-Back: Anwar Ali

Irrespective of whatever changes are made in the East Bengal backline, Anwar Ali’s presence will be an ever-bearing feature in it. Anwar played an influential role in helping Esat Bengal win their first-ever ISL title last season, helping them keep four clean sheets and producing some immaculate defensive performances.

He managed 73 defensive contributions in his 12 ISL appearances, being a proactive and commanding figure in their backline to help the Torchbearers keep the best defensive record in the league.

Habas should allow Ali to continue operating the way he has, being assertive with his defensive work to help bail his defenders out of trouble and ensure that the Torchbearers can keep racking up clean sheets.

Centre-Back: Nacho Monsalve

With East Bengal parting ways with Kevin Sibille after the end of the 2025-26 season, they’ve used the Antonio Habas connection in roping in a talented Spanish defender in Nacho Monsalve.

The 32-year-old centre-back is actually a product of the Atletico Madrid academy and even played for the La Liga heavyweights in the 2015-16 season, before playing for other notable clubs like Rayo Vallecano and FC Twente across Europe.

Monsalve made 22 appearances in LaLiga 2 for Hercules last season, making 85 defensive contributions and being a hard-working defender.

Monsalve will look to create a formidable defensive partnership with Ali, creating nice chemistry to hold a stubborn defensive line together for East Bengal and causing frustrations for opposition forwards.

Left-Back: Sandip Mandi

One player that Antonio Habas has brought with him to East Bengal from his former side Inter Kashi is Sandip Mandi, who has played under him for Kashi for the last few years.

The 24-year-old defender, who gained his breakthrough in the ISL through Jamshedpur FC, has been brought to East Bengal and can fill their issues in the left-back spot.

Mandi played in all 13 matches in the 2025-26 ISL, producing especially impressive performances in their clean sheets against Mohun Bagan, SC Delhi and Mohammedan Sporting.

He managed 66 defensive contributions in that period, proving himself as an efficient full-back who frustrated wingers with his tracking and ability to make timely challenges. Mandi should add more defensive sturdiness to East Bengal’s backline in that left-back spot, allowing Habas to keep a gritty defensive structure.

East Bengal FC Potential XI 2026-27 season (with new signings)

Centre-Midfield: Mohammed Rashid

Mohammed Rashid proved to be an inspired addition to the East Bengal squad in the 2025-26 season, producing a string of gritty performances to help them win the ISL.

The Palestinian midfielder maintained admirable consistency with his 12 appearances in the ISL, being slick and accurate with his passing as well as working hard defensively – winning 52 duels and making 56 defensive contributions.

Rashid’s tough character, hard-working nature and physical prowess should make him a key part of Antonio Habas’ squad, as the gaffer should use him quite proactively. Rashid just needs to continue being a positive bundle of energy in East Bengal’s midfield to help them take the fight to their opponents and dominate the midfield battles.

Also Read: How Mohun Bagan can potentially line up with new signings in 2026-27 season

Centre-Midfield: Danish Farooq

Danish Farooq has been signed to add a bit more physicality and aggression to the East Bengal midfield under Antonio Habas, who wants a team who is capable of physically dealing with opponents’ threat. Farooq produced some nice performances for Kerala Blasters over the last few years, featuring in 10 ISL games for them last season and managing 41 defensive contributions in that period.

He can be a really tenacious midfielder who is capable of covering a lot of ground, physically intimidate opposition midfielders and recover possession in key areas to trigger counter-attacks.

The Indian midfielder will need to be efficient with his work in midfield to enhance his chances of starting regularly amidst the stiff competitiveness for places in the East Bengal midfield.

Right-Wing: Bipin Singh

Bipin Singh proved to be a breath of fresh air in the East Bengal attack after joining them in 2025-26, using his experience and winning mentality to guide them to the ISL title. The 31-year-old high experience levels in the ISL, ability to work hard on both halves of the pitch and unpredictability factor will probably earn him a regular spot under Habas’ system at East Bengal.

Bipin will look to be proactive in the wide areas, being a threat with his dribbling ability and tendency to carry the ball into the danger zones.

However, the 31-year-old winger, who managed five goal contributions (two goals, three assists) in the 2025-26 ISL campaign, will need to be decisive with his final third.

He’ll have to be smart in picking out clever passes into the box for his forwards to pounce on, and also look to be more ruthless with his finishing to enhance East Bengal’s overall goal-scoring qualities under Habas.

Attacking-Midfield: Dani Ramirez

Dani Ramirez turned out to be one of the better-performing foreign midfielders in the ISL last season, making a stellar impact for Punjab FC in his first campaign in India.

The Spaniard, who is a graduate of the Real Madrid youth academy and played for Spanish clubs like Valencia and Getafe in his career, managed six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in the 2025-26 ISL campaign – including goals against Mohun Bagan and Odisha FC!

Ramirez created 44 chances in the ISL last season and will be under pressure to excel as the replacement of Miguel Figueira in their no.10 role.

Ramirez should be given enough freedom to roam into the danger areas, but he needs to be particularly clinical with his shooting and innovative with his final passes to add excitement to the East Bengal attack and justify his signing for the Torchbearers.

Left-Wing: PV Vishnu

The 2025-26 ISL campaign success for East Bengal really enabled PV Vishnu to prove how good he can be if given regular playing time by the Torchbearers in big games. Even though he was mostly started in a left wing-back role by Oscar Bruzon last season, Vishnu managed to impress in a creative role for East Bengal by managing three assists and scoring a goal last season.

He proved himself to be a really menacing threat on the left flank, making clever forward runs in carrying the ball into the danger zones with relative ease.

Vishnu has to work on glistening up and further improving the accuracy of his crosses and final passes to be able to become an even bigger creative force. However, his hard-working nature, defensive capabilities and element of surprise can make him a valuable figure for Habas’ system.

Centre-Forward: Nsungusi Effiong

East Bengal have been able to find an ideal replacement for the departed Youssef Ezzejjari with the form of Nigerian striker Nsungusi Effiong, who made a significant impact as part of the Punjab FC unit last season.

The Nigerian striker scored seven goals and provided two assists in 12 appearances, which included goals against the likes of Mohun Bagan, FC Goa and NorthEast United. Effiong was rather effective in finishing off chances, scoring his seven goals with only 13 shots on target and significantly outperforming his 3.41 xG (expected goals) as well.

Effiong will bring power and unpredictability to the East Bengal frontline, using his clever off-the-ball movement, physicality and positioning skills to trouble defenders. 

He’ll need to bring his A-game to the table in finishing chances clinically to win games for East Bengal and for them to compete strongly in the ISL title race.

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