In 2019 January, Hyderabad FC, a new franchise in the Indian Super League, signed Liston Colaco from FC Goa; little did the world know by the end of the ISL 2020-21 season, he would have been chased by several ISL clubs. When the whole league was convinced that Hyderabad would never sell Liston, out of nowhere on April 10th, 2021, ATK Mohun Bagan FC announced the signing of Liston, as exclusively revealed by IFTWC earlier.
Liston Colaco is a Goan player who scored two goals in four games for Hyderabad FC in his debut season. In the following 2020-21 season, he scored two goals and has given three assists in 19 games. Despite the lower stats, his mesmerising performance against East Bengal and NorthEast United FC got HFC big bucks after selling him.
How did Hyderabad FC replace their star player?
During the devastating unforgettable first season, the Nizams got in Sujay Sharma as their Technical Director. Later in the summer of 2020, they roped in two partnerships with two of the biggest clubs in Europe. One of those partnerships is with Borussia Dortmund, which aims to set up a state of the art football academy in Hyderabad to groom and promote young Indian players.
Their performance in the 2020-21 season can speak all about their project on developing young Indian players. Their young players Akash Mishra, Hitesh Sharma, Mohammad Yasir, Liston Colaco, received a national team call up for the friendlies against Oman and UAE. All four players received ample game time, and they got to prove themselves that they are national team material. It is not surprising that in the coming years, HFC will groom many more young players and contribute to the development of Indian football like the city used to in the 1970s.
Transfer fee on selling Liston Colaco
Hyderabad FC sold Liston for around 1 crore, and this deal became the highest ever domestic transfer in the history of Indian Football. As said by a source close to ATK Mohun Bagan, it was tough to rope in the signature of Liston, but ATK Mohun Bagan offered an undeniable transfer fee to Hyderabad.
This didn’t end here; Hyderabad is again counting on another top-class young player so they can groom the player; the Nizams has signed Aniket Jadhav from Jamshedpur FC on a free transfer as exclusively revealed by IFTWC. Aniket is an experienced young player who has played in the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India in 2017; last season was a little dry for the forward where he scored only one goal in 14 games with 636 minutes of game time.
Liston joined the Nizams when he was 21 years old. Now the likewise goes for Aniket Jadhav, given that Aniket brings in a lot of ISL experience than Liston; if used flawlessly, he has the potential to overcome Liston. Aniket’s pace, skills and experience will surely be an excellent strength to Hyderabad’s squad.
Hyderabad FC’s future stars: Aaren D’ Silva and Abdul Rabeeh
Hyderabad FC has also got Aaren D Silva from FC Goa reserves and Abdul Rabeeh from Luca SC for their reserves team. As each day goes by, Hyderabad is getting closer to its long term goals and project. If not for the pandemic, the Indian football world would have seen more HFC trials in many states across India than those conducted in Telangana, Mizoram and Manipur in summer 2021.
Given the present situation, Hyderabad FC might use Aniket Jadhav and Rohit Danu as a replacement for Liston Colaco. Aniket Jadhav and Rohit Danu need no introduction. Danu’s incredible precise crosses saved Hyderabad FC twice by equalising the score in losing games. The Nizams might use Aaren D Silva, and Abdul Rabeeh for the long term as Rabeeh is a versatile player who can play as a winger and a wing-back.
The future looks bright for the Nizams with impressive signings and fan engagement initiatives like Mera Hyderabad, HFC Man.
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