- East Bengal starts their pre-season training Under new coach Khalid Jamil
- East Bengal won’t recruit any foreigner from United Kingdom
- Neither of the foreigners have arrived
- Gurwinder Singh and Luis Barreto will join the training soon
- Al Amna and Carlyle Mitchell are expected to join in a week.
Kolkata: Kingfisher East Bengal’s plan to recruit foreigners from The United Kingdom gets a blow, as the club decides against recruiting a foreigner from there. East Bengal had opened talks with two foreign strikers after former India international Alvito D’Cunha shortlisted them in a trial in Leeds, though club official Debabrata Sarkar said, “The amount of money they are demanding, is not affordable. So we are not signing any player from U.K”. He added, “We tried for something good. It didn’t work out. But there won’t be any issue in recruiting quality foreigners. We would be trying to find foreigners who will suit our budget. We have already recruited our foreigners for the Calcutta Football League. We have enough time to recruit the other foreigners before the I-League. Except Plaza, the other two are having so,me visa issues, but it would be solved soon. We are also hopeful that Dibyendu Sarkar will join us in a few days.”
The outfit, which has appointed I-League winner Khalid Jamil as its head coach this summer, has started its pre-season practice on Monday morning at the club ground. The club has already roped in Syrian midfielder Mahmoud Al Amna and Trinidadian defender Carlyle Mitchell other than retaining striker Willis Plaza for another season. Plaza, however, will not be available for the next fortnight having made it to the Trinidad & Tobago squad for their upcoming friendly against Ecuador.
East Bengal’s newly appointed head coach Khalid Jamil was surprised at large crowds pouring in to watch the first practice session of the season at the club ground today. The club commenced their training today without any foreign player.
Hundreds of supporters turned up to see their boys in red and gold train here ahead of the Calcutta Football League games.
“I have never seen such crowds for a practice session. In Mumbai, it was nowhere close. This is encouraging for the boys and gives us extra motivation to do well,” Jamil told reporters at the end of practice session.
Khalid also told, “I will take a decision within three days regarding a pre-season camp. The club ground seemed alright today. But we have to see how it stays if it rains”.
Meanwhile, physical Trainer Djair Miranda Garcia, who has joined East Bengal from their arch rivals, told, “Both the clubs are big clubs. I have enjoyed working here. But my dream is to work for the Indian National Team.”