Indian Football’s perennial leader and captain Sunil Chhetri is showing no sign of stopping. After more than seven years with Bengaluru FC, the skipper scored his 100th goal for the club last night against Jamshedpur FC. And while such a feat calls for a celebration, there is a different headache for The Blues. The club will have to fight off stiff competition to ensure that Chhetri’s goal tally doesn’t end at 100, a task which might prove to be difficult.
Bengaluru FC ended their season on a disappointing note. After failing to win silverware last season for the first time, the club has had an even worse season this time around. They racked up 22 points from 20 matches, finishing 7th on the table. After the match, club owner Parth Jindal’s tweet, which was deleted later, read that there would be a lot of ‘goodbyes’ after the match.
With certain players leaving the club, questions were raised about captain Chhetri’s future at the club. Naushad Moosa, the interim head-coach, came forward and said that Chhetri is attached to the club and will retire there.
As far as Sunil (Chhetri) is concerned I doubt he wants to leave Bengaluru FC. He will finish (his career) at Bengaluru FC. The feeling what he has for the club for seven years, I’m sure he will be attached to the club”.
Naushad Moosa
However, IFTWC has learned that several ISL clubs are in the race to get Sunil Chhetri. ATK Mohun Bagan, Mumbai City FC, SC East Bengal and FC Goa are trying to get the talisman in their side, and have offered him contracts which are better than what Bengaluru FC were offering. The Blues cannot be ruled out, yet. It is expected that the club will put in maximum efforts to make Chhetri stay.
Sunil Chhetri is yet to make a decision about the same, leaving doors open for a lot of possibilities. This development will be keenly followed by Indian football fans as it might as well be the last club Sunil Chhetri plays for. The demand and interest in him, though, hasn’t diminished one bit.
