ISL: Who is Jeakson Singh? What impact will he have on the Kerala Blasters FC side this season?

The present generation of Indian footballers has provided many talented and hardworking midfielders starting from Brandon Fernandes, Lalengmawia Ralte (Apuia) to Amarjit Singh Kiyam and Glan Martins. One of them is the 20-year-old lad from Manipur, Jeakson Singh. His career till now has been a mesmerising one and is predicted to be fabulous one in the future.

Jeakson's career started way back in 2012 when he joined the Chandigarh Football Academy situated 2700 kilometres away from his home. The young Manipuri lad represented India in the FIFA U-17 World Cup which was held in India and also went on to score their first goal in a World Cup. His 82nd minute header from a Sanjeev Stalin corner restored parity against Colombia but unfortunately, India went on to lose the match 2-1.

Jeakson Singh's entrance into the team didn't happen like most of his teammates. His cousin Amarjit Singh Kiyam and Sanjeev Stalin had been selected in the AIFF trials (2015) but Jeakson missed out. The defensive midfielder bounced back as he joined the Minerva Punjab academy and went on to win the AIFF Youth League titles twice in a row (U-15 and U-16). He grabbed the attention of Abhishek Yadav (COO of the U-17 national team) when Minerva Punjab defeated Ozone FC 3-0 and bagged the U-16 Youth I-League title with Jeakson scoring a long-ranger earlier in the match. The COO invited the team to play against the U-17 national team in which Minerva Punjab won 1-0. It was at this point when the gates to the national team were opened for the youngster.

Jeakson Singh is currently a crucial member of the Kerala Blasters FC squad. Last season he played 16 matches for the Blasters and scored one goal, a late equaliser against SC East Bengal.

His performance in the previous edition of the Indian Super League can be assessed by his statistics; 48 tackles, 26 interceptions, 21 clearances and 22 blocks. He also possessed a passing accuracy of 74.46% throughout the campaign. It can be said that though Jeakson is a young lad, his presence in the midfield, guarding the defensive fortress is really appreciable.

The youngster has already played in the Durand Cup this season. It is expected that his combination with the likes of Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Sahal Abdul Samad and Adrian Luna will be a delightful one to watch this time out.

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