Weekly Transfer Roundup: Leskovic to Blasters, East Bengal sign Chima

The Red & Gold Brigade were quite busy in the past week with announcing new transfers.

The previous week saw a lot of activity of new arrivals in Indian football. A lot of fresh faces will be part of the eighth season of the Indian Super League (ISL), which will begin from November 2021 onwards. The fans are eagerly waiting for the premier league competition in India to come back in action.

The same is the case with I-League, which is set to kick-off in December. The anticipation is high and the excitement that comes with new signings is increasing by the day. 

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The pre-season is underway and the teams are preparing themselves for the challenges ahead. The tacticians are busy finding the best combinations, the perfect starting lineup and introducing new players in the squad. The thinking behind signing new players is bringing the individuals who would compliment the playing style of the team. 

There were many announcements of new arrivals in the past week. The general discussion around these new signings is how they will adapt to the new surroundings. It will be interesting to see how the coaches will use their new recruits as well. The new fresh foreign recruits are attracting a lot of attention from the fans of the respective clubs and the neutrals alike.

Here is a quick roundup of all the transfers that happened in Indian football in the previous week.

Indian Super League

SC East Bengal

The Kolkata-based club were heavily busy signing their foreign players after their involvement in the upcoming season was clear. They have brought in Dutch midfielder Darren Sidoel. The 23-year-old has signed a one-year deal with the club. He joins from Spanish second division club Córdoba CF, having spent last season on loan at Hércules.

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Daniel Chima Chukwu also joins the Red & Gold Brigade ahead of the next season. The Nigerian striker will hope to have a similar impact like Bright Enobakhare last term. Interestingly, the 30-year-old has played under Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Molde.

Franjo Prce is the third player to join the ranks at SC East Bengal this week. The Croatian will add experience to the defensive department next season. The former Lazio defender has signed a one-year contract with the club. The defender has played majorly in Italian football and will bring buckets of expertise to the team. 

Tomislav Mrcela will be joining Prce in the defensive department. The Australian center-back has played for Perth Glory in the A-League and also won the league once. “I will look to add experience at the heart of the defence and take care of the locker room as well. The atmosphere within the team is very important and I will leave no stone unturned in doing what needs to be done for the team’s benefit.” Mrcela said while talking about the transfer. 

Kerala Blasters

Marko Leskovic has joined Kerala Blasters ahead of the 2021-22 season. The Croatian will make his debut in ISL having played all of his career in Croatian first and second division. Leskovic has experience of playing for the Croatian national team as well as the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League. He will be a great addition alongside Enes Sipovic in the heart of defence.

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Bengaluru FC

Iranian midfielder Iman Basafa is the latest acquisition at Bengaluru FC. He will be one of the many fresh faces in the ISL next season. Basafa last featured for Machine Sazi in the Persian Gulf Pro League and is the 10th new player bought under Marco Pezzaiuoli. The 29-year-old is a defensive-midfielder and will add more depth to the squad, providing some much-needed competition.

Mumbai City FC

The reigning ISL champions have brought in Gurkirat Singh from Indian Arrows. The 18-year-old has reportedly signed a three-year contract with the Islanders and will join up with the team ahead of the next season. The youngster is positionally versatile but is more adept in a left winger role on the field.

He will be thrilled to work alongside some of the big names of Indian football while at Mumbai City, who are also the defending champions of the league.

NorthEast United

Mathias Coureur is the latest signing at NorthEast United. The 33-year-old has signed a one-year deal with the Highlanders, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2021-22 season. The new foreign recruit has played in several European and Asian countries and will bring a wealth of experience to the club. Someone like Deshorn Brown could also benefit from Coureur's arrival as it will lessen the responsibility from his shoulder in the attacking department.

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I-League

Sreenidhi Deccan FC

The I-League outfit welcomed Vineeth Kumar to their fold this week. The centre-forward has shown potential and his 'proven ability to score' was described as one of the reasons why Sreenidhi Deccan signed him.

This will be the club's maiden season in the top levels of Indian football, and they are preparing accordingly by building a squad under former Churchill Brothers and Gokulam Kerala coach Fernando Santiago Varela. Ubaid CK, Mayakkannan, Lalromawia, Arijit Bagui, Konsam Phalguni Singh, Sriram Boopathi and Girik Khosla are some of the other signings that they have announced in the past few weeks.

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