[WATCH] Dimitrios Diamantakos gets royal reception by East Bengal fans at airport

Dimitrios Diamantakos was the top scorer in the last Indian Super League season.

Dimitrios Diamantakos got a king-like reception from East Bengal fans upon arriving at Kolkata airport to join up with Carles Cuadrat’s squad before the start of the 2024-25 season. The Greek striker landed at 2:30 AM at the City of Joy and was surprised to see a large group of fans awaiting to give him a royal welcome to their club.

Dimitrios Diamantakos was greeted by some East Bengal officials and also facilitated, but the biggest reception he received was outside the Netaji Subhash Chandra Airport in Kolkata. Despite it being the wee hours of a Sunday morning, a large number of East Bengal faithful turned up to ensure that the striker was felt at home from the start.

The ex-Kerala Blasters forward was pleased to see many fans chanting his name and treating him like a member of their family. Despite the long flight and the extreme timing, the 31-year-old forward was gracious enough to express his gratitude towards the fans and also take time to interact with some of them before being driven to his hotel.

This follows the East Bengal showing their unbridled love for their new signings this summer. Madih Talal was also received by a large gathering of fans when he flew into Kolkata last week and Jeakson Singh got a grand unveiling at the East Bengal ground ahead of the recent Calcutta Football League game against the Calcutta Police team.

Diamantakos selected moments – from another mobile pic.twitter.com/re5vDXvVxY

— EAST BENGAL News Analysis (@QEBNA) July 21, 2024

What will Dimitrios Diamantakos make his East Bengal debut?

After arriving in Kolkata, Dimitrios Diamantakos will look to adapt himself to his new environment and is poised to join training with Carles Cuadrat’s squad soon. He will initially need to work up his fitness with some individual sessions before being able to blend into the first-team training, where he’ll look to create a nice chemistry with his new teammates.

Incidentally, the last competitive match in which Diamantakos played was against East Bengal in the Indian Super League clash on 3 April 2024. He witnessed his Kerala Blasters go down to a 4-2 loss and had to be taken off at half-time and has not played any competitive football over the last three-and-a-half months.

Hence, it’ll be even more integral for Cuadrat to take his time in calmly adapting Diamantakos to his first-team squad and giving him enough time to work up his fitness and match sharpness levels. With that being said, the 31-year-old should be able to make his debut for the Red & Gold Brigaders in the upcoming Durand Cup.

East Bengal will kick off their Durand Cup campaign with a game against the Indian Air Force team on July 29. That might be a bit early for Diamantakos to make his debut. But if he can’t make it in that game, he should be able to play against the Downtown Heroes side on 7 August.

Cuadrat will want his star striker to be at his best before East Bengal’s vital AFC Champions League 2 play-off qualifier against Altyn Asyr on August 14. The Red & Gold Brigaders need to win that match to qualify for the ACL 2 next season.

With Diamantakos having won the ISL Golden Boot last season with 13 goals in 17 appearances, there is a lot of expectation on him to be a goal machine for East Bengal and usher them to major success in the 2024/25 campaign.

#Kolkata was in Dimi-craze at 3️⃣ AM! 🤩📹: @eastbengal_fc #ISL #LetsFootball #EastBengalFC #DimitriosDiamantakos | @Sports18 @DiamantakosD pic.twitter.com/hfB3eCpfwM

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) July 21, 2024

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