Till the middle of August 2017, Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was the envy of every Indian footballer. Keeping his struggles aside, he was the shining example of where hard-work can get you: to the Europa League, and in certain games, walking out as the skipper of the senior India team. Then Bengaluru FC swooped. And Gurpreet signed for one of India’s biggest clubs. While it could still be a logical move for him and has excited many fans, the flip-side of the one and only settled Indian footballer in Europe coming back home, was a void in terms of inspiration.
Stories about Mohamed Salim at Celtic still enchant and Bhaichung Bhutia’s crocked knee can be blamed for his premature return from Bury in England. Sunil Chhetri’s stints in USA and Portugal didn’t script anything special and Romeo Fernandes in Brazil was a botched experiment. Only Gurpreet made it, but with him back, who now?
Deependra Singh Negi
Negi signed a contract with Spanish second division side CF Reus last year after he turned 18 in November. According to a source, Negi played “seven to eight games for the Under-19 side and created two to three goals from his defensive midfield position”. Negi has previously captained India’s U-17 side and gave a slew of trials in Spain before securing a contract with Reus. One has to be careful with these deals because there are clubs who could entertain you for three to six months for a trial fee. However, Negi’s deal seems to be one based on talent and not on money. He is currently on the lookout for a club in Spain and given the fact that he’s one of India’s top prospects, it wouldn’t surprise us if he found a new club in the next month or so.
Ishan Pandita
The first Indian to sign a professional contract with a La Liga club, Pandita was in the news last October when he agreed a one-year contract with Leganes. According to reports, the 18-year-old midfielder would play in their U-19 team in the Division de Honor Juvenil. He has also had a stint at Almeria and a trial with Getafe.
However, The Field spoke to a couple of player agents about Pandita and there seems to be something murky about his deal with Leganes. While technically still an Indian playing abroad, there has been very little on him since the deal was signed. Ishan has also not appeared for any of India’s age-group sides. Compare this with Negi, who is a product of the AIFF’s elite academy and doubts increase. It’s odd with football though, where a few goals can change ones fortunes. And for the sake of Indian football, we hope Ishan makes the most of his stint in Spain.
Pratik Shinde
Another player whose career abroad is hanging in the balance is Pratik Shinde, who became the youngest player to sign with a foreign club when Galveston Pirates (USA) were impressed by his showing for India Under-14s in Sweden. Shinde confirmed that he is almost certain to accept another contract from Houston Hurricanes which plays in the Texas Premier Soccer League. He also became the youngest player signed by an ISL club when FC Pune City signed him when he was 19. Shinde has already opened his own soccer academy and seems to have made the right back-up plan in case a career in American soccer fails to take off.
They’ll possibly never play for India but there are Indian-origin players who the impatient fans can keep an eye on for the sake of filling in the void left by Gurpreet in the big leagues. Danny Batth (26, Wolverhampton Wolves), Malvind Benning (23, Mansfield) are two players who’ve forged settled careers but these are the names that really catch the eye.
Joshua Pynadath
Keeping this list fresh is Pynadath, who was at one point chased by both Barcelona and Real Madrid. The 15-year-old is half-American and eventually signed for Madrid and spent two years in their junior team before signing for Ajax. History says that there isn’t a better European team than Ajax for youngsters but signing for an academy is not enough these days.
However, Pynadath has been creating ripples in the Netherlands with some brilliant performances and was also selected for the Under-15 USA Boys National Team. There are no specific stats to be found for him but he’s scored at least thrice, including two strikes in the game that sealed the youth academy title for Ajax (in his age-group). One of these strikes was also nominated for the club’s annual top 10 goals of the season compilation.
Harmeet Singh
Among the notable Indian-origin players abroad is Harmeet Singh, who was born to Indian parents in Oslo. The defensive midfielder, fondly called the Norwegian Iniesta, has already played for Norway and has enjoyed a distinguished career so far. Starting off at Norwegian club Valeranga (he scored against Barcelona while with them to earn Pep Guardiola’s praise), Harmeet moved to the Netherlands with Fayenoord before playing under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer at Molde. Harmeet is currently in Sweden playing for Kalmar FF in their top-division. He also has seven international caps for Norway.
Yan Dhanda
It’s been four years since Liverpool signed English-Indian Dhanda and the midfielder has survived the trapdoor through which thousands of budding young footballers take a tumble. Now 18, Dhanda has developed into a player who was in demand among Championship clubs this summer but has stayed on to convince Jurgen Klopp of his abilities. He’s also played four times for England’s Under-17 team.
The Narsingh brothers
Luciano and Fudjel Narsingh also have Indian heritage – but it is the Dutch they play for after their grandparents moved to Suriname from Andhra Pradesh to work at plantations. Older brother Fudjel has had a stop-start career in the Netherlands but Luciano recently moved to Swansea in the Premier League after spending time at Herenveen and PSV. Luciano has also scored four times for The Netherlands, with one of his goals coming against England in a friendly in March 2016.
Neil Taylor
And finally we’ve got Taylor, whose mother is from Kolkata. Taylor played for Wales at Euro 2016 and even scored a rare goal (he never scored for Swansea in 179 appearances) against Russia in a Group B match. Taylor has visited India a couple of times and openly talks about his admiration for the country. He signed for Aston Villa for £5.40 million in January 2017.
It’s clear that the hole left by Gurpreet is going to be hard to fill. Deependra Negi is probably the only player who has the potential to do so. A lot of Indian youngsters pay their way into trials, as Shinde mentioned. These exposure trips have become a big business with agents and agencies littered across India which will readily make you train at a Barcelona or a Rangers for a fee. But those trips will be relegated to a line at the end of many CVs as players mostly come back. The challenge is to make it there purely on talent.
India doesn’t need players spending weeks to train in Europe. What it needs are scouts to notice youngsters. This is what makes the Under-17 World Cup so important. There could be more Negis in India who don’t get spotted. With scouts streaming into the country for the Fifa event, it gives Indian players a platform to show their talent so that European clubs can fulfill work permits by arguing that the talent they’re signing is exceptional. That is vital to fulfill a future in football across the seas and especially in Europe.
And the most important factor, as Shinde also mentioned, is “to stick around and not worry how big the club is. Just play – the standard of football is going to be higher abroad than in India on any day”.