Three positions Mohun Bagan must improve in 2025 summer transfer window

The Mariners will be looking to achieve a domestic treble next season.

Mohun Bagan had a highly memorable 2024-25 campaign in which they completely dominated the Indian Super League (ISL). The Mariners set many new records en route to winning the ISL league shield championship, becoming the first team to successfully defend the title. They also won the ISL trophy to do the coveted double.

However, the Mariners realise that they need to improve certain aspects of their squad to compete even more strongly in the 2025-26 season. The Kolkata giants will, of course, be participating in the AFC Champions League Two next season and need to build a strong squad to compete with Asia’s best teams.

Despite being such a strong unit with high quality players all across the board, they are in need of a few more highly-talented acquisitions to give the squad that added boost next season. Here we look at the three positions Mohun Bagan must improve in the 2025 summer transfer window.

3. Right-Back

Mohun Bagan have admirable depth in the majority of positions in their squad. They have at least two quality players for almost every area of the pitch, something that helped them dominate the ISL teams last season. However, there is a bit of a shortage of quality options in the right-back areas. Asish Rai was really consistent in the 2024-25 season, being defensively stern and an energetic presence going forward. But there isn’t a quality replacement for the India international in that position.

Dippendu Biswas and Deepak Tangri can play there, but aren’t naturally suited to the role at all. The Mariners need to push for a proactive new right-back who can compete with Rai for that role. The player needs to be defensively strong enough to deal with pacy wingers and keep them quiet. They also need someone in that right-back role who can dart forward and create more chances with their crosses, something that can allow Manvir Singh to move more centrally to raise their goal-scoring threat.

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2. Defensive Midfield

Mohun Bagan were relatively fortunate that their lack of quality defensive midfielders didn’t come back to haunt them. Lalengmawia Ralte mostly played as the deepest midfielder for the Mariners in most matches, with Deepak Tangri sometimes filling into the role too. However, Mohun Bagan need a strong, intelligent defensive midfielder who can be an able destroyer in midfield to stop opponents’ swift breaks or attacking moves.

They need someone who can make crunching challenges and also sit in between the centre-backs to add more defensive protection, especially in the tough AFC matches. They need to push to sign a sturdy defensive midfielder who can not only do the defensive duties, but also help move the ball along nicely and help kick-start swift breaks with his splitting forward passes.

1. Attacking midfielder

Mohun Bagan are poised to let go of influential midfielder Greg Stewart in the summer window and that will meant they will be signing a replacement as well. The Mariners were probably underwhelmed by Stewart’s fitness issues after seeing him miss a large chunk of games because of injuries in the 2024-25 season. They will now be looking to sign a creative midfielder who is much fitter and capable of playing all through the 2025-26 season with any major fitness problems.

They will probably be looking for a versatile attacking midfielder, who can potentially also drift into wide areas to cause havoc. Because of how tough the AFC matches can be, Mohun Bagan need a special player who is capable of outwitting the meanest defensive line with their expert final passes or finding shooting opportunities out of nowhere. They need someone who can consistently make goal contributions and push them towards winning more titles going forward.

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