Real Madrid's legendary right-back, Michel Salgado has officially been confirmed as the third marquee signing of the Premier Futsal League. He joins former Barcelona midfielder Deco and Manchester United legend Paul Scholes as legendary former players to have agreed to participate in the league.
Salgado, who started his career with hometown club Celta Vigo in 1995, experienced the best years of his career at Real Madrid, after joining them in 1999. He was with the Galacticos till 2009, after which he moved to Blackburn Rovers, where he spent three seasons.
During the course of his 14-year career, he made a total of 444 league appearances, including 341 matches for Los Blancos. As the starting right-back for Real, he was a crucial member of their Galacticos squad, winning four La Liga titles, two Champions League medals, Intercontinental Cup in 2002, the UEFA Super Cup in 2002 and the Supercopa de Espana in 2001, 2003 and 2008.
He joined Blackburn Rovers in 2009, and spent three years at the club, helping them perform well, as he made 66 appearances for them in the Premier League. The Spaniard also earned 53 caps for the national team, and was known to be a tough-tackling, two-way player, who attacked and defended with great vigour and endeavour.
Him joining the Premier Futsal League will give the tournament a great fillip, as a player of his calibre and reputation will certainly enhance the quality of the league. His former teammate, Luis Figo, who is also the President of Premier Futsal, would definitely be very happy to have him on board and great things would be expected of him going forward.
In a release to the press after his signing, Salgado said, “Futsal is an extremely underrated sport. It has been the breeding ground for some of the biggest names in football the world over and I’m glad Premier Futsal in India is creating a platform that can showcase the sport and give it its due.”
“I think the talent the league has managed to draw is fantastic with not just futsallers like Falcao but also career football players like Paul Scholes and Deco taking part. It’s almost nostalgic in a way to go up against these players again and I’m really looking forward to reliving the old days and reigniting those old rivalries, this time on the futsal court.”
Premier Futsal Co-founder, Nithyashree Subban said, “It is an honour to announce Michel Salgado as our third marquee signing for Premier Futsal. We have been committed to present Futsal in a way that has never been seen before here in India and we are living up to our commitment. Going up against such storied international talent, Premier Futsal will create the much needed roster of futsal players which can represent India on the international stage. Dinesh, Abhinandan and I have put in a lot of thought to come up with this holistic approach to breed home grown Futsal talent.”
