I-League: James Moga agrees terms with East Bengal

On the day Penn Orji signed for Mohammedan Sporting, East Bengal took a giant step towards confirming their fourth foreigner for the 2013-14 season as they have agreed terms with South Sudan international striker James Moga, Sportskeeda can confirm.

Moga, who first came to India in 2011 and joined Sporting Clube de Goa, played for Pune FC last season and scored 16 goals in the I-League. The 29-year-old was on the radar of several I-League clubs, including East Bengal’s arch-rivals Mohun Bagan, but the forward has finally agreed to sign for the red-and-gold brigade, a source close to Sportskeeda confirmed on Tuesday.

The AFC Cup quarter-finalists had been negotiating with Moga ever since the end of the 2012-13 campaign but were waiting to see whether Penn agrees on a new deal. Once the Nigerian refused to sign, East Bengal were happy to take Moga instead.

East Bengal have already retained Nigerians Uga Okpara and Edeh Chidi besides signing Japanese Ryuji Sueoka, and the addition of Moga will add more quality and strength to their attack which at times was heavily dependent on Chidi last season.

The Kolkata giants are expected to make the deal official in the next few days but the move could be a massive setback to the first team hopes of Indian strikers Manandeep Singh and Baljit Sahni, with Robin Singh set to leave the club.