ISL 2020-21: Odisha FC owner wants Sandesh Jhingan to snub Mumbai City, ATK-Mohun Bagan

Sandesh Jhingan is undoubtedly the hottest property in the Indian football transfer market right now and it is no secret that he has quite a few suitors. The fact that the star defender wants to ply his trade abroad, after mutually parting ways with Kerala Blasters, has not stopped Indian Super League (ISL) outfits from trying to sign him.

Odisha FC, for one, have not even attempted to hide their intentions of signing Jhingan. They have already approached the player, with a decent offer, and are waiting for a response. But Odisha are well aware that they are not alone in the race — Mumbai City FC, ATK-Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC and a few others are also interested.

In such a scenario, Odisha’s owner, Rohan Sharma has come forward and urged Jhingan to snub other offers and join the Bhubaneshwar-based franchise. In a Live session with The Juggernauts, the official fan club of Odisha FC, Sharma revealed how big a fan he is of the 26-year-old footballer.

“I am big fan of Jhingan,” he said. “I want him to sign with the team, but at the end of the day, it has to be a mutual thing, where he wants to come too. I am interested, I am ready to fight with the other clubs of the ISL. I am sure that out of 10 clubs, 7 would love to have him. We are not the only ones who are interested.”

https://twitter.com/MrRohanSharma/status/1270615551837188102

Sharma further added, “But it will be great to have him here. We will have great centre back pairing with Gaurav (Bora) and Jhingan, and then there is Subham (Sarangi) on the right, Hendry (Antonay) or George (D’Souza) on the left, that’s a pretty strong defensive line we can play with in the AFC tournaments, if we make the cut.”

Then he proceeded to say, “Jhingan, if you are watching this, you don’t want to go to Mumbai, you don’t want to go to ATK… in Odisha, you will get the fan support, you will be the rockstar here… you’ll be the captain of the team, if the coach let’s it happen, I mean you will have it all. Don’t go anywhere else, we really want you. Come to Odisha”

Adding Jhingan will no doubt bolster Odisha FC’s defence and could make them serious contenders for the title. We will have to wait and see which ISL club Jhingan eventually plays for, if at all he stays in India.