Ex-Kerala Blasters star Facundo Pereyra returns to CA Estudiantes

The playmaker spent only one moderately successful season here in India.

The Indian Super League (ISL) has lost one of its foreign stars in Facundo Pereyra. The Argentine, who represented Kerala Blasters in the 2020-21 season, has now rejoined CA Estudiantes where he started his senior career. The outfit plays in the second tier of league football in Argentina.

The attacking-midfielder had vast experiences of playing for various clubs in Argentina, Chile Mexico and Greece before coming to India.

Kerala Blasters fans will be disappointed after losing one of their foreign players from last season. The playmaker came to Indian football with a lot of promise and aimed to take the Yellow Army to new heights. However, he could neither help KBFC secure a high position in the standings nor open his goalscoring account in the league.

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The numbers culminating a poor season

Facundo Pereyra played 12 matches last term. He clocked in 884 minutes of football and provided only three assists during that time. He could not score a goal and former head-coach Kibu Vicuna was not sure of his preferred position in the lineup. The attacking midfielder often played as an attacking midfielder or from the right-wing and managed only 11 shots in those 12 appearances. 

Overall contribution from the 33-year-old was also lukewarm at best as he tried to settle in the ISL. He had only 457 passes and 26 crosses. Pereyra’s performance was symbolic of the club as a whole which was underperforming heavily. The outfit finished in 10th place, second from bottom in the league standings. 

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KBFC: a new chapter

The Yellow Army are making several changes to turn their fortunes around. They have appointed Ivan Vukomanovic who replaced the outgoing Kibu Vicuna as the head-coach. They have also brought in Adrian Luna and Enes Sipovic ahead of the next season. The Uruguayan attacking-midfielder and the Bosnian defender will hope to uplift the club and bring some joy to the fans.

Kerala Blasters will make more foreign signings and it will be interesting to see what kind of players step in. Vukomanovic’s coaching style is also under close observation by the fans and the neutrals alike. There are lots of positives for KBFC supporters to look forward to and Pereyra’s departure could lead to better things.

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