Robbie Fowler had not been impressed with the quality of Indian players in his squad…
East Bengal are set to send nine Indian players on loan in the January transfer window, Goal can confirm.
Balwant Singh, Gurtej Singh, Rafique Ali Sardar, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, CK Vineeth, Samad Ali Mallick, Abhishek Ambekar, Mohammed Irshad and Anil Chavan are the nine players who will be released.
The Red and Golds have already agreed terms with fellow Kolkata club Mohammedan Sporting over the transfer of defender Gurtej Singh and goalkeeper Rafique Ali Sardar. The two players have travelled to Kolkata last night and have entered the I-League club’s bio-bubble.
While Gurtej and Rafique Ali will ply their trade in the I-League for the remainder of the season, midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh is close to joining another Indian Super League (ISL) club, sources close to Goal have confirmed.
The fate of the other six players are yet to be decided but the Kolkata giants are trying to find clubs for them as the team management looks to offload them.
East Bengal are currently at the bottom of the ISL table with just two points from their first six matches. Head Coach Robbie Fowler has expressed his displeasure over the quality of the Indian players in his squad on multiple occasions this season. He had even mentioned after the Hyderabad game that the squad had been assembled with I-League as the target competition. This was before the club managed to enter the ISL.
It has to be noted that none of these nine players, who are being released, were recruited by the current team management.
East Bengal entered the ISL late and as a result, have not had time to prepare and assemble a squad capable of challenging and competing in the ISL. By the time their participation was confirmed in the ISL, it must be kept in mind that the cream of Indian players had already signed for other ISL clubs.
With nine players out, East Bengal will be left with 26 domestic players in their ranks for the rest of the season.
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