Scouting Report- Yumnam Gopi Singh: Who is ATK's exciting attacker

The youngster has impressed for the Kolkata outfit's reverse team for the past few years.

Khel Now takes a look at one of ATK’s fastest rising young talents – Yumnam Gopi Singh who has been a star performer for their reserve side for the past few years. The 21-year-old’s impressive performances must’ve caught the eye of Antonio Habas with a view to making him a part of his future plans.

Singh but has plenty of experience having played in the I-League with NEROCA FC. Moreover, the feisty winger has also impressed in the I-League 2nd Division and performed well in the Durand Cup for ATK last season.

The 21-year-old is yet to make his ISL debut, but his consistency and improvement in performance-level could soon see him jump up into Habas’ immediate plans in the coming campaign.

Scouting Report

Name: Yumnam Gopi Singh

Age: 21

Date of Birth: 1 February, 1999

Position: Winger/Attacking Midfielder

Background

The Manipur-born youngster burst onto the scene in the 2017-18 season for NEROCA, who gave him many opportunities to impress in his debut campaign. Singh’s work on the ball and exciting style saw him prove to be a breath of fresh air for the Orange Army.

While he couldn’t score any for NEROCA, he helped setup some good stuff in the campaign, where they finished second after being promoted into the then top division.

After his breakthrough campaign, Singh was snapped up by ATK, but put into their reserves side to continue his development. He even became the captain of ATK reserves for a while, leading from the front with his vibrant attitude.

He’s been playing for the reserves over the past few years, becoming a pivotal part of their impressive work in the lower division. The 21-year-old also put in some bright performances in the Durand Calcutta Football League.

Yumnam Gopi Singh managed to score more than 10 goals in over 30 competitive matches for the reserves side and his consistency has been a big positive for Deggie Cardozo’s unit. If he continues to improve at this rate, one could envisage him becoming the latest talent from ATK’s reserves to be promoted to the first-team next season.

Positives

Gopi Singh has proven himself as a really fiery winger over the past few seasons, possessing enough traits of a modern day wide man to succeed. He possesses enough pace to leave defenders in his trail, while his work with the ball is also encouraging.

The 21-year-old has a lot of tricks up his sleeve and doesn’t shy away from utilizing it to dribble past defenders. His creativity is also pretty impressive, with the youngster often finding his teammates with ambitious passes and solid crosses as well.

He’s also very versatile in being able to play in a number of positions on the attacking front, having played on either wing and occasionally in the attacking midfield role for ATK reserves as well. Considering that Habas values versatility greatly, his ability to impress in a number of areas can work in Singh’s favour soon.

Aspects to improve

In order to thrive in the ISL, Gopi needs to work on his physical strength, which could be holding him back all this while. The winger has the technical wizardry in him, but often gets ousted physically which could be a problem at the top level.

Moreover, he also needs to improve on his finishing skills. Singh only managed a couple of goals in the I-League 2nd Division for ATK Reserves last season. Even though he has the ability to venture into scoring areas, his lack of ruthlessness in the final third must be worked upon.

Similar To

The 21-year-old has shown enough traits for being similar to NorthEast United star Redeem Tlang. Similarly, he has the ability to cause enough trouble through the wing with his menacing movement, but has that unpredictable factor to him as well.

Tlang isn’t one for scoring too many goals (he at least didn’t under Eelco Schattorie) but brings that something different with his sparky attitude. Singh is also off the same mould, also knowing how to operate down the middle and create opportunities for his side. If his progression continues in the upwards trajectory, maybe he can follow Tlang’s footsteps into becoming an emerging ISL youngster.

Future

After witnessing the way in which Sumit Rathi rose up the ranks to become the ISL Emerging Player of the Season for ATK, Singh will be fancying his chances for next season. Of course, the competition will be double (literally) as ATK will get merged with Mohun Bagan.

The Mariners will bring some talented youngsters with them, meaning Singh will have to work twice as hard to excel. However, if he continues to prove his excellent operating through the wings, the 21-year-old should manage to outperform the competition in the merged ATK-Mohun Bagan unit next campaign.

As long as he keeps being a terror down the wings, remains productive on a constant basis and proves himself capable enough for the ISL, the youngster should earn Habas’ undivided attention very soon.

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