Officials in talks with Brazilian defenders Eli Sabia, Gustavo Lazzaretti
Internet Desk: Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan have almost confirmed the services of Delhi Dynamos central defender Anas Edathodika. The footballer from Kerala was targeted by East Bengal as well. According to reliable sources in the club, Anas has verbally given his consent to don the Green and Maroon colours in forthcoming I League. Mohun Bagan is likely to hand him a contract for a whopping Rs 53 lakhs. The addition of the reliable defender will no doubt bolster Bagan defence.
The Federation Cup champions Mohun Bagan will be a genuine contender to win the I League this season. The Green and Maroon officials have retained the core group which has won them the I League and Federation Cup in last couple of seasons. The biggest positive is they have managed to confirm the services of Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sony Norde. Both the players were in talks with arch rivals East Bengal.
The Mariners has so far signed 23 footballers for the forthcoming I League. The only concern for Mohun Bagan is they are still undecided about their fourth foreign recruit in I League. With Katsumi Yuasa, Darryl Duffy and Sony Norde (to sign after ISL), the officials are in the lookout of a fourth foreigner. The Bagan officials are looking for a central defender who can lend solidity in the defence. They already had talks with Luciano Sabrosa who plied his trade with the Green and Maroon in the I League last season. But considering he is injury prone, it has forced the Mohun Bagan officials to take a cautious approach.
Bagan officials are already in talks with two Brazilian defenders who has impressed in the ensuing ISL. They are keeping in touch with Beto who has referred the names of these two compatriots. One among them is Chennaiyin FC’s Eli Sabia and the other is North East United FC’s Gustavo Lazzaretti. Both had 11 appearances for their respective side but Lazzaretti is more experienced. The former Chelsea defender had caught the eyes of everyone with his inept defending. The 32 years old also played for Botafogo and Serie A side Udinese.
The 28 year old Sabia is a well-travelled player within Brazil as he has made appearances for Atletico Paranaense, Botafogo and Paulista among others. His most memorable stint was with Santos FC in a loan deal where he saw Neymar made his professional debut and later breaking into the world footballing scene. More recently, he spent five seasons with Sao Caetano which also included loan spells in several clubs around Brazil. Earlier this year he had short stints with Agua Santa and Sampaio Correa.
Meanwhile Sehnaz Singh will also make a comeback to his former club after a season with East Bengal. Sehnaz’s papers have been sent to Mumbai City FC. The defensive midfielder will definitely add to the strength of Mohun Bagan squad.
Few players will be signed after the ISL like Bikramjit Singh and Sony Norde.
The club has decided to release Lenny Rodrigues who might join Churchill Brothers. Another footballer Balwant Singh too is linked with joining arch rivals East Bengal. But Mohun Bagan coach Sanjay Sen is in touch with Balwant trying to convince him to stay with the club for another season.
Here is the list of footballers signed so far by Mohun Bagan:
Goalkeepers: Debjit Majumder, Arnab Das Sharma, Shilton Pal
Defenders: Kingshuk Chakraborty, Pritam Kotal, Shouvik Ghosh, Sanjay Balmuchu, Raju Gaekwad, Sarthak Golui, Avishek Das, Anas Edathodika
Midfielders: Katsumi Yuasa (foreigner), Prabir Das, Sony Norde(foreigner) , Kean Lewis, Pranoy Halder, Bikramjit Singh, Souvik Chakraborty, Robinson Singh, Sourav Das, Sehnaz Singh
Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Darryl Duffy (foreigner), Azhar Ali, Balwant Singh (?)