ISL: SC East Bengal sign Indian Arrows starlet Harmanpreet Singh for 2020-21 season

Indian Super League (ISL) new boys SC East Bengal have completed the signing of 19-year-old centre-forward Harmanpreet Singh after the youngster’s impressive performances for developmental side Indian Arrows last season, The Bridge can confirm.

The young striker has already completed his medical and will be flying out to join the side’s base camp in Goa as we enter the final stage of preparations for the new season.

Having represented United Punjab FC’s youth teams early on in his career, the forward’s moment of glory came when he turned out for the Khelo India games at U18 level and was called up to the India U18 team.

Indian Arrows brought him on board soon after and after a solitary appearance in the 2018-19 I-League campaign, he came into his own last season featuring 13 times for the side, making a name for being a tireless worker on the pitch who is comfortable playing all across the front three.

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His understanding with fellow attackers Rohit Danu and Vikram Pratap Singh was probably the best thing about the Arrows side last season and with them joining Hyderabad FC and Mumbai City FC respectively, he is set to follow in their footsteps soon enough and play in the ISL this season for the Red and Golds.

While this signing comes as a surprise for fans in Kolkata, this may also mean that head coach Robbie Fowler has resigned to playing with 6 foreigners in this season’s competition. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as it allows a number of young Indian players to flourish alongside more experienced heads like Jeje, Mohammed Rafique, Eugeneson Lyngdoh and so on.

The Kolkata giants also have some quality foreign players to fall back on in the form of Anthony Pilkington, Aaron-Amadi Halloway, Scott Neville, Daniel Fox, Jacques Maghoma and Matti Steinmann making them one of the dark horses for the 2020-21 campaign.

Also read: Anthony Pilkington interview — Robbie Fowler’s call, East Bengal fans and the obsession with winning