Scouting Report- Mohammed Asif Khan: Who is Mumbai City's teenager?

The 19-year-old has risen through the ranks from the MDFA divisions to make it to the ISL outfit.

Mumbai City FC are a club that is still in the process of fine-tuning their developmental system and creating a proper youth structure. The motive of that, like for most other clubs, would be to create a supply line of talented players to make their way into the first-team. In this article, we will be taking a brief look at arguably the most encouraging talent to have emerged through the ranks at Mumbai in recent years - Mohammed Asif Khan.

He is someone who was inducted into the senior squad in November last year after Anwar Ali’s withdrawal due to a congenital heart condition. Thus, even though Asif hasn't appeared for the first-team yet, he has been a prominent part of the reserves over the course of the past couple of seasons.

Let us delve deeper into Asif’s journey so far and ponder upon why he is possibly being looked at as a bright candidate in Mumbai’s footballing circles:

Scouting Report

Age: 19

Date of Birth: 09 March 2001

Position: Attacking Midfielder

Height: 174 cm

Background

Asif has had very minimal professional experience of playing the sport before being associated with Mumbai City FC a couple of years ago. However, he has been an avid sportsperson right from his junior days, dating back to when he was in second grade. He was actively involved in football and a gradual natural progression was awaited before he made it to the higher levels.

That is when he started representing Agnels Gymkhana in the MDFA Super Division prior to becoming an Islander. The young lad went through the grind and played plenty of matches in those two years.

There, Mohammed Asif Khan majorly played as an attacking midfielder, but was at times even deployed in a deeper role, akin to that of a central defensive midfielder.

He thus carried out both those responsibilities exceptionally well before his days with Mumbai City FC commenced. In an open trial, the talent and the repository of skills that he possesses was spotted by Mumbai City’s scouts and he was picked for their U-18 side. From thereon to signing a long-term contract with the club lasting until 2024 in March this year, it has been a fascinating ride for the 19-year-old.

Positives

Mohammed Asif Khan is a fleet-footed carrier of the ball who has the ability to swiftly glide through the defensive line and take on opposition defenders at will. He is someone who possesses brilliant control over the ball and hence his footwork enables him to operate quite effectively in the final third. More importantly, he has an eye for a pass and is dynamic with respect to his movement near the box.

Asif can play through the middle, pass the ball to either wing and incisively open up spaces for the forwards to capitalize on inside the box. On the other hand, he is equally comfortable cutting inside from the flanks. Khan also has a good sense of the game and reads the play well.

The starlet’s work-rate is commendable, as he is quite tenacious and has that acceleration and pace to take on his adversaries and get past them regularly. Asif is also someone who is keen to be constantly involved in proceedings and does not mind tracking back to win possession for his team. He can shoot with precision and tends to go for goal whenever the opportunity presents itself.

In the 2018-19 U-18 I-League season, Asif scored an impressive four goals and bagged two assists in the eight matches that he appeared in. These included strikes against the likes of Pune City, India Rush-Steadfast and Iron Born FC. Infact, his goal against Iron Born was voted by the fans as Mumbai City’s best goal in 2019 across the club’s teams at different levels.

His lively pace, an expansive passing range and the willingness to chase the ball at all times indicate that he is an all-round midfielder who is capable of donning both attacking and defensive roles in different positions across midfield.

Aspects to Improve

Despite his august technique and versatile skills, there is plenty of bulking up that Asif will have to do to feature regularly in the first-team. He is currently quite a lanky lad who could arguably be shrugged off the ball by more physically imposing defenders. The standard of opposition that he will encounter in the ISL would be quite a few notches higher than what he has been used to. Hence, it is critical that he works hard on that aspect.

Secondly, he needs to improve his decision-making in the box. In the 2019-20 season, he was regularly training with the first-team and played eight matches in the second division of the I-League too. There, however, he was unable to make any goal contributions. His rather underwhelming performances could also be attributed to the fact that Mumbai City’s reserve team in general failed to inspire much confidence.

When Mohammed Asif Khan was asked to reflect upon his outings this time around, he stated, “We were unlucky as there were a lot of goalscoring chances being created, but they were not resulting in goals.”

Similar To

Asif’s style of play and approach towards the game shows shades of his own teammate and another local player, Raynier Fernandes. Both of them work best in attacking midfield positions, can setup goals with their passing and can also register their names on the scoresheet.

Future

Mohammed Asif Khan trained extensively with the first-team in the previous season and a lot more of the same could be expected for him in the upcoming campaign. He might have to gain match experience through the reserves team for the time being and prove his mettle over there.

Fortunately, with Sergio Lobera most probably assuming the head coach responsibilities at the club, Asif could be assured of deserved chances and opportunities with the senior team, provided he earns them through his outings on the field.

Lobera’s track record of remarkably improving the younger Indian talents that he had at his disposal at FC Goa is well-known. Accordingly, the officials at Mumbai City would be hoping for Mohammed Asif Khan to retrace a similar pathway and achieve greater heights under the tutelage of the potential new boss in the coming years.