Kolkata: Indian midfielder Mehtab Hossain who went unsold in the draft decided that he wants to,”retire with the East Bengal jersey,” after his meeting with the club officials in Kolkata.
He also said, “I didn’t win the I-League so I congratulate the coach and the new recruits and want them to win the the I-League at any cost.”
Mehtab had earlier decided that he would not be a part of the Red and Gold brigade. As a matter of fact, he also snubbed an offer from his ISL club Kerala Blasters who were trying to retain him along with Sandesh Jhingan and CK Vineeth and instead decided to be a part of the ISL draft.
East Bengal’s new coach Khalid Jamil reportedly had put forward the name of Abdul Adil, the son-in-law of the legendary IM Vijayan to the club in a bid to have him play for the Kolkata giants in the future.
But the former Indian star footballer in an interaction with Xtratime revealed that his son-in-law has already been released by the club
He said, “My son-in-law has already been released. The officials had made it clear that they won’t be signing him.”
Alvito D’ Cunha and former Tollygunge Agragami club football selected a few players in the form of Jobi Justin and Mirshad during their visit to Kerala.
Vijayan had sent Adil to the club where he practised and trained at the East Bengal club ground under the guidance of coach Khalid Jamil. However things didn’t turn out to be good in the end as get was released from the same.
Jamil would have a sort of reunion with Syrian Mahmoud Al Amnah who was a part of the I-League winning Aizawl FC team last season.
The other foreigners in the form of Willis Plaza and Carlyle Deon Mitchell are currently training and have thus been unable to join the squad. But they would arrive shortly and defender Gurwinder Singh have already joined the squad.
Luis Barreto and Dibyendu Sarkar will take care of East Bengal’s defensive duties for the upcoming CFL as the Red and Gold brigade might not buy a new defender at this point of time. Coach Jamil confirmed that the practice sessions would not be held in Kalyani but at the club practice ground.
Also Abhishek Das and Denson Devdas who too went unsold in the draft joined the Mohun Bagan practice sessions. “No one selected me in the ISL draft, so I want to prove myself by working hard and playing well for Mohun Bagan” said Das after attending a practice session.
Denson Devdas was however focused on playing well for the Mariners as he believes that not getting an ISL team is past for him.
He said, “I am back to Mohun Bagan after 2015. Not getting a team in the ISL is now past for me. I want to concentrate and play better for Mohun Bagan.”