Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is all set to return to India after failing to earn sufficient playing time at Norwegian Eliteserien side Stabæk FC. After spending three seasons in Norway, playing a total of 11 games for the first team, the Indian goalkeeper’s European journey is coming to an end.

The keeper will be signing for Bengaluru FC, where he will be playing alongside Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh. Both Sandhu and Chhetri have captained India in the last 12 months and his first assignment is mid-week in an AFC Cup clash.

Having left the country for Stabæk FC in 2014, Gurpreet is the first Indian to start a league match in any of Europe’s top divisions, a feat he achieved in 2016, and he then set another first by becoming the first Indian to start a match in the UEFA Europa League, the second-tier competition for Europe’s top clubs.

It would not be too aggrandising to state the effect of Gurpreet’s European stint on Indian football as a whole. It has certainly proven beneficial to Stephen Constantine and the national team; the goalkeeper has become a leader in the Englishman’s book and has now clocked up 15 appearances for the Blue Tigers.

‘He has worked his socks off in Norway’

The match was extra-special for Gurpreet Singh, who I made captain. I can’t praise him enough. When I first saw him in 2015, he wasn’t ready. But let me tell you, he has worked his socks off in Norway. He’s not on big money, he lives in a small flat, and he’s spent months as understudy to Sayouba Mande, Stabaek’s Ivorian keeper. But he was brave. He stuck it out. Now, he’s good enough to have a career in Europe. I hope other Indians follow his example. The whole country will benefit.

— 'From Delhi to the Den' by Stephen Constantine and Owen Amos

In his newly-released book From Delhi to the Den, Constantine has reserved high praise for the Punjabi, branding him a leader and handing over the captain’s armband for the friendly fixture against Puerto Rico, a match they won 4-1.

When Gurpreet left East Bengal for Norway, he had not played a game for the national team for three years, debuting against Turkmenistan in the AFC Challenge Cup 2011 but not having featured since.

The six-foot four-inch giant between the sticks was elevated quickly to the number one spot as Subrata Paul, a veteran of 50-plus caps for the national team was dislodged. Incidentally, Paul’s stint in Europe had ended with him making no appearances and him returning to the Indian Super League within a year.

Gurpreet had taken the plunge, opted for lesser pay than what the ISL would grant him away from the comfort of his home. Yet away from all these feel-good factors, he has improved immeasurably between the sticks, becoming more vocal in his command of the box, going hand in hand with an upgrade in his shot-stopping skills.

From Norway to Asia

While the Punjabi keeper’s stint in Europe may have had his desired effects on his overall growth in the technical department, a lack of game-time was always going to play on his mind with the national team involved in a sizeable amount of games over the next year.

He is expected to be first choice for Bengaluru FC and will play a minimum of 20-25 games for the club. In Norway, Gurpreet played for a club in Europe’s 27th best league structure (out of 52) whereas here, he may get to play Asia’s best, albeit in the second rung continental competition for both the 2017 and 2018 editions.

He has signed for a club that has won four trophies in four years since inception and has a set-up which involves several of his national team-mates. The gulf in standards may still exist, but if utilised to the fullest extent, Gurpreet stands to have the opportunity to become part of the first side to break a continental jinx.

It must also be remembered that at 25, the opportunity to sign for a big club in Europe or elsewhere in the world may come knocking again. Till then, he will have to be satisfied with rubbing shoulder’s with the continent’s elite and stretch Bengaluru FC’s trophy-laden run to a fifth year, no mean tasks. The onus of ensuring the national team’s safe passage to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup will also keep him occupied.

Gurpreet has set new benchmarks

This will mean the end of the national team interest in European leagues for now, but the Punjabi’s stint abroad will not be matched in India at the moment, at the very least in terms of exposure.

It is not all doom and gloom, however, as he has returned a better player than whence he left and in the process, has also set a new benchmark for Indians playing in the toughest leagues of the world. An important side-effect of his European sojourn has been an increase in competition for the Indian No 1 jersey, possibly the most hard-fought spot in the team.

As of now, he stands head and shoulders above his peers, having roughed it out. He will add immensely to the domestic game and should be an important figure in breaking the mould, if Indian players do manage to do so going forward.

Perhaps, those single-season or three-month stints will turn into longer durations for Indian players who might eventually break into their respective club teams. No one will write off Sandhu’s three years in Norway, as Indian clubs look to capitalise on his upgraded nous and know-how.