Jamshedpur FC, the reigning ISL League Shield winners have made an offer for the 31-year-old English striker Jay Emmanuel Thomas, the club has announced.
“The 31-year-old was a target for ISL side Jamshedpur FC. New coach Andy Boothroyd was considering a move for the former Arsenal youngster who has been without a club since he agreed to terminate his contract with Scottish club Aberdeen back in April,” the sources close to the development informed IFTWC that the Red Miners had made an offer for him in the past.
About Jay Emmanuel Thomas and his previous stints
Born in London, he was at Arsenal from age eight, since he was spotted playing for his father’s team by a “Gunners” scout. He became captain of the under-18 youth team when he was just 16 years old. In the summer of 2008, he signed his first professional contract with the club.
Jay failed to impress then-coach Arsene Wenger and didn’t get regular game time at Arsenal. He was successively loaned out on a one-year deal at several English clubs like Blackpool, Doncaster City, and Cardiff City between 2009 and 2011.
JET as he is commonly known then made a permanent move to Ipswich Town FC in 2011. He made 71 appearances for the team and also scored 8 goals before signing for Bristol City FC in 2013.
In Bristol, Jay appeared for over 82 games and scored 24 goals. This was the best goalscoring record in his professional career to date. After a two-year stay, he left the club in 2015 when he signed for famous London-based club Queens Park Rangers or QPR in short.
Game time was hard to find for him at QPR as he played only 12 matches over the three years with the club. In between, Jay had also spent at Milton Keynes Dons (MK Dons) and Gillingham FC on short loan stints from QPR.
In 2019 Jay signed for Thai League 1 club PTT Rayong. It was his first time playing in Asia. He made 11 appearances and scored a goal. Later on, he moved to Scotland in 2020 and signed for Livingston FC.
Jay made 24 appearances for Livingston FC and scored 5 goals in the 2020-21 season of the Scottish Professional League. After that, he signed for the fellow Scottish club Aberdeen FC where he appeared in 15 games.
Jay has also played for the England U17 and England U19 teams in the past. He is a versatile forward and can play as a winger or striker.
Jay’s biggest strength is his physical strength and his height which gives him a big advantage for any team he plays for during the set pieces and transition or even counter-attacking.
In terms of honours, JET has won Football League One and Football League Trophy with Bristol City FC in the 2014-15 season. He has also won FA Youth Cup and Premier Academy League in the 2008/09 season.
For Jamshedpur FC, the club have already signed goalkeeper Rakshit Dagar, defender Pratik Chaudhari and Mohammed Uvais, midfielder Germanpreet Singh and Sheikh Sahil.
While Narender Gahlot, Mobashir Rahman and Greg Stewart have left the club. The Red Miners have also given a contract extension to their young midfielder Jitendra Singh.
It will be interesting to see how the Red Miners shape up for the ISL 2022/23 season under new coach Andy Boothroyd. In case Jay signs for Jamshedpur FC the attack will become stronger as the team hopes to defend their ISL league shield title and also win the ISL next season.
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