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Mohun Bagan has transformed my career: Jeje

[caption id="attachment_31959" align="alignnone" width="871"]Jeje Mohun Bagan has transformed my career: Jeje | File Picture[/caption] Kolkata: Hours after been declared as the AIFF Player Of The Year 2015/16 season, India's prolific goal scorer and Mohun Bagan and Chennaiyin FC forward Jeje Lalpekhlua spoke exclusively to www.xtratime.in correspondent Suman Chakravorty regarding the dream run of his career. The ace forward also specially thanked Mohun Bagan as he marked the club to be the turning point of his recent success. Here goes the entire conversation:
You are selected as the best Indian player by The AIFF this season. What's your feeling? Trust me, it's a wonderful feeling. This is an award which is tough to get. But my teams Mohun Bagan, Chennaiyin FC and the National team are equally responsible for this award. Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming support.
The new season in the I-League will be comprising 2 new franchises. At the same time two famous clubs have withdrawn their names. Being a loyal servant of Indian football, what's your reaction? Being an Indian footballer I felt really bad to hear that Dempo and Sporting Clube de Goa were quitting. Indeed a bad news. Their influence and contribution have helped a lot to Indian football. But the new teams are coming like Minerva and Chennai. I will be hoping that they will be patient on serving Indian football for a long time. My best wishes will be with them.
How do you describe the last three seasons of your career? Mohun Bagan has changed my career. It has been a transformation. Ever since I joined them, my game has changed. I want to thank Sanjoy Sen for all his guidance. National team coach Constantine and Chennaiyin FC coach Materazzi too played important roles behind my success. A big thanks to them. In Mohun Bagan, the understanding has been really good among the players and that helped me a lot.
What do you think about the disappointing performance of Chennaiyin FC this season? I think the performance was good. The problem was that we conceded last minute goals, specially in the last 5 minutes. I couldn't deliver according to the expectations as well. But it happens in football. Sometimes, losing is also good, otherwise you cannot learn.
Despite the strong interest and lucrative offer from East Bengal, you have still joined Mohun Bagan. Any special reason? Nothing has been official as yet. My agent and the club will announce it officially soon. But yes, Mohun Bagan has been special for me.
If the ISL and I-League get merged, which club would be your first pick between Chennaiyin and Mohun Bagan? I believe it's still long way to go to get merged. I'm not in a position to take a call on that, but it will be a tough call and we'll deal and handle the situation accordingly.
Materazzi said that you should try and play in foreign leagues. Your take on that?
Jeje: Yes, Materazzi likes me a lot. Thanks to him as he thinks that I can play in foreign leagues but let's see. May be in future.
What has been the mystery behind your immaculate performance this season? Well, I scored as many as 32 goals this season. Thanks to my coaches for keeping faith on me. I worked really hard on my game and will be doing the same in the future.
Whom do you think will be the teams to watch out in this I-League? Well, so far it looks like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC are the strongest on papers. Let's see how it goes. But it will be a tough contest this season.
 
What would be your personal and professional resolutions for the year 2017? I will try to win as many trophies as possible for my club. My target would be to score more goals than this season, in the year ahead.
Your striking partner in the national team, Sunil Chhetri will get married soon. When will Jeje get married? Haha(Smiles). Well, I wanna concentrate on my game now. Haven't thought about my wedding. No plans as such.

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