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Ranti Martins might have won every major domestic trophy in Indian football and broken many individual goal-scoring records but for the first time in his career he is joining a club with a massive fan base.
East Bengal announced the signing of Ranti on Tuesday and the Nigerian is looking forward to the challenge of performing under pressure week-in-week-out.
“It’s a new journey for me and a privilege to join East Bengal. It will be something new (the fans and huge media interest) for me but I don’t see it as any pressure and instead look at it as a responsibility,” Ranti stated at a press conference.
The red-and-gold brigade saw off competition from arch-rivals Mohun Bagan to get the Nigerian’s signature. Ranti admitted the presence of his mentor Armando Colaco at East Bengal was a factor but didn’t discuss further about his reasons in preferring East Bengal.
“Colaco’s presence is a factor of course. East Bengal had been in contact with many for a long time but this time everything was right. To put it simply they came with an offer at the right time,” he said.
Ranti, who signed a two-year deal, has won the league five times and now will be expected to end East Bengal’s long wait for the I-League trophy. The former Dempo striker talked about the importance of the whole club working together as a unit.
“Everybody at the club has to work together starting from the players, fans to the club officials. I know some of the players here like (Edeh) Chidi as we played together at Dempo. Picking the rest of the team is the task of the club officials and coach so I can’t comment much on that but I am sure we will have a quality side,” he said.
East Bengal also confirmed that Armando Colaco has been offered a new deal and the five-time I-League winning coach is expected to take a decision by May 6.
