Kerala Blasters today officially announced the contract extension of Centre back Abdul Hakku
Born in Malappuram, Kerala, Abdul Hakku started off by spending 5 youth years at Sports Academy Tirur before signing with DSK Shivajians. Hakku made his professional debut for the Pune based side against Kolkata giants East Bengal. In 2016, Hakku signed for the I-League Second division side Fateh Hyderabad. He made 15 appearences and scored his first goal in senior level for the club. Season after that, Hakku was picked up by Northeast United in the ISL player draft but the promising central defender couldn’t live upto expectations. Although the 2017/18 season was disappointing, Hakku managed to pen a deal with hometown club Kerala Blasters.
For the last two seasons Hakku struggled to get playing time as he wasn’t Kerala Blasters’ first choice centre back. The Malayali youngster’s career has been severely affected by injuries and fitness issues recently which pulled him further down the pecking order. With a mediocre 7 appearences in 2 seasons for Kerala Blasters, Hakku will certainly be looking to play more minutes next season.
“Being a local boy from the state of Kerala, Blasters is my family, my own, always! I am really happy that the club has shown faith in me and I will make sure that I work harder going forward. I hope we can win many trophies together and rejoice with our 12th man, our heartbeat, our fans. This is my home, and I am here to stay!” said Abdul Hakku on his contract extension.
Kerala Blasters FC Sporting Director Karolis Skinkys said “Abdul Hakku has potential to become a mainstay in the club’s defence line. We believe in his tackling abilities. With strong will power, hard work and dedication from the player, I hope to see him grow and evolve into one of the best defenders from the state, under the guidance of our new Head coach. Being a Kerala boy, we also hope to see continuous love and support from our fans that will help build his motivation.”
With the departure of Sandesh Jhingan, Hakku has the chance to redeem himself and become a mainstay in the defence for Kerala Blasters. The 25 year old Keralite will look to cement his spot at the heart of defence in the upcoming edition of the Indian Super League.
Kerala blasters will be looking to get back on track once the 2020-21 season kicks off as they have failed to get past the league stage for the last 3 seasons. With sporting director Karolis Skynkis and Spanish gaffer Kibu Vicuna at the helm, Kerala Blasters are focusing on building a formidable squad by retaining existing players and securing the signatures of talented youngsters.
In the forthcoming season, Kerala Blasters would want to improve their last season’s point tally of 19 points from 18 matches. So far they have announced the Signing of Bengali midfielder Ritwik Das, Goan custodian Albino Gomes and Former Bengaluru FC Defender Nishu Kumar along with retention of Jessel Carneiro and now Abdul Hakku. The Manjappada awaits the management to further strengthen the squad for next season and challenge for the Indian Super League title.