ISL 2020-21: Interesting developments after Nongdamba Naorem suffers major injury setback

Young winger Nongdamba Naorem, who had just recently moved to ATK Mohun Bagan from fellow Indian Super League (ISL) side Kerala Blasters, has suffered an injury to his knee ligaments. According to reputed football journalist Marcus Mergulhao, the winger was found to have an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear during a medical check-up at his new club. Further reports are being awaited in order to determine the extent of the injury and when it had actually occurred.

https://twitter.com/MarcusMergulhao/status/1344992078808301569

Now, in a dramatic turn of events, the Kolkata side have refused to pay the transfer fee to Kerala Blasters for the 20-year-old player. If that was not enough, the Mariners have also gone ahead and rejected the transfer of young striker Subha Ghosh who was supposed to move in the other direction having had limited playing time at Bagan. The club have not registered the transfer in the Centralised Registration System (CRS) which is the central database for player transfers and related matters under the purview of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

For the uninitiated, Subha was a key part of Mohun Bagan’s I-League and Durand Cup campaign last season under Kibu Vicuna. He has already joined the Blasters camp in Goa and was even pictured in the team’s colours on the club’s official Twitter account a couple of days back. Vicuna himself had expressed his joy at having him back under his tutelage when asked about him at the pre-match press conference ahead of their match against Mumbai City FC.

The situation is an extremely complicated one and involves a number of different contexts at play. Whether Kerala Blasters have indulged in any sort of foul play or if it is just a case of plain oversight on the part of the club’s medical team is still up for debate. However, these are two promising youngsters that we are talking about and both clubs have to tread cautiously in terms of the moves that they make next. Watch this space for more.