Friday , March 29 2024

India U-17 star Dheeraj Singh leaves Indian Arrows to try his luck in Europe!

In a turnaround from an earlier statement, Manipuri youngster Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem has decided not to play out the ongoing I-League season with the AIFF’s Developmental side Indian Arrows and renew his contract with the national federation to pursue his dream of playing abroad in Europe.

Goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem was one of the standout performers of the Indian Under-17 national team which played at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup on October 2017 at home in India.

And his recent performances for the Indian Arrows in the I-League have shown that he has grown even further in confidence and stature.

It is known that Dheeraj was scouted by a number of European clubs during the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with interest from Motherwell FC (Scotland) and West Ham United (England) own but only on Friday at the post-match press conference after the game against Mohun Bagan, ‘Hero of the Match’ Dheeraj had told the media that he would play out the I-League season and then look at Europe.

Now Dheeraj’s contract with the AIFF runs out tonight and the federation was only willing to sign a new three year contract as with the other players, which Dheeraj saw as a detriment of his European club career ambitions.

Dheeraj can go to trials to Europe, but as per FIFA and European Union legislations, he cannot sign a professional contract before completing the age of 18, which would only happen on July 4, 2018, which means he could sign only for the new 2018/19 season and then there are work permit regulations in the United Kingdom, especially England which could make getting a work permit difficult to impossible.

This is what Dheeraj said on his Facebook page:

About Arunava Chaudhuri

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