ATK sign East Bengal sensation Jobby Justin

The Kolkata-based side have also retained the services of Manuel Lanzarote, Edu Garcia, and John Johnson for the upcoming season.

ISL outfit ATK have announced the pre-contract signing of East Bengal star Jobby Justin. The 25-year-old will join the Kolkata-based outfit from June 2019 onwards, and has signed a three-year contract.

Also, the side have retained the services of Manuel Lanzarote, Edu Garcia, and John Johnson.

Justin was an influential figure for the Red and Gold Brigade during the 2018-19 I-League season, where the Quess-owned side had a dramatic end to their campaign with a second-placed finish.

The Kerala lad scored nine goals in 17 league appearances, making him the highest Indian goalscorer in the competition this season. The forward will reinforce ATK's attacking unit which already has the likes of Balwant Singh and Komal Thatal.

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In the previous ISL season, ATK found it hard to score goals. The club scored 18 goals in 18 matches, joining Kerala Blasters (18) and Chennaiyin FC (16) in having scored less than 20 goals.

The club's top scorer was skipper and midfielder Lanzarote, who registered five goals in 14 matches; and is also 35-years-old. The arrival of Justin could boost the team's attempts in finding more goals. 

Justin's displays in the recently concluded I-League led to calls of him to be included in Stephen Constantine's national team for the AFC Asian Cup, but he missed out on a spot. He has also never appeared for the Blue Tigers.

Here is the list of retained players by the two-time Indian Super League champions:

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Foreign Players: Manuel Lanzarote, John Johnson, Everton Santos, A. Bikey-Amougou, Gerson Vieira, Edu García.

Indian Players: Aiborlang Khongjee, Arnab Mondal, Ricky Lallawmawma, Komal Thatal, Avilash Paul, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Balwant Singh, Jayesh Rane, Pronay Halder, Hitesh Sharma, Pritam Kotal, Sena Ralte, Debjit Majumder, Ankit Mukherjee, Arindam Bhattacharya, Ashish Pradhan