ISL: ATK Mohun Bagan retain Carl McHugh for 2020-21 campaign

Indian Super League (ISL) outfit ATK Mohun Bagan FC retained the services of Irish defender Carl McHugh for the upcoming season, the club confirmed on Thursday.

McHugh, 27, played a key role in defence for ATK before injury cut short his season. However, the club was always keen on extending his stay, given his quality, and had begun talks of a contract extension even before the campaign had ended.

The former Motherwell FC captain, who scored on his debut for ATK, decided to put pen to paper and sign a new one-year deal.

CARL stays in CAL! 🖋️📜

The Irish midfielder has penned down a one-year extension that will keep him in the City of Joy till 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣.

See you soon, Carl. 🙌🏻#ATKMohunBagan#IndianSuperLeague#IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/pKFIdPXec0

— ATK Mohun Bagan FC (@atkmohunbaganfc) August 20, 2020

“I am thrilled to be signing again for the club. It was hard to watch from the sidelines last season. I can’t wait to be back on the pitch and contribute to the defence of our title and the AFC Cup quest,” McHugh said after the signing was confirmed.

Antonio Lopes Habas and his team always wanted to keep hold of the crux even though some change, at least in the club management area is obvious given the merger with Mohun Bagan. With that vision only the contracts of Roy Krishna, Edu Garcia, Prabir Das, Pritam Kotal, Sumit Rathi and Joby Justin have been extended.

David Williams, Javi Hernandez are also expected to stay while there might be a seventh foreign signing on the horizon. The ISL season kicks off in the third week of November but ATKMB, like last year, seem prepared well ahead. They will definitely be favourites to defend their title but Mumbai City FC, FC Goa, and Bengaluru FC are expected to mount stiff challenges.