Arsenal and Tottenham Fight for HAL Defender and Nepal International Rohit Chand

Rohit Chand: EPL Calling

If reports coming out of the media are to be believed, Nepal’s teenage football sensation Rohit Chand is sought after by two top English Premier League clubs, Arsenal FC and Tottenham Hotspur.

Nepal National Coach, Graham Robert is said to have confirmed to GoalNepal that the news about the HAL defender being sought by EPL clubs is true. Scouts from both the clubs will be coming to judge the 18 year old play for Nepal when they face Jordan on July 23, in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers.

Chand is a Nepali National currently plying his trade with I-league Club HAL as one of the club’s Asian recruit. He is also a regular for the Nepal national team and is the youngest player to have ever sport the National Team Jersey.

As an eight year old boy, he started playing football, inspired by his brother Rabindra Chand, who is also a good player in the Nepal domestic circuit. The junior Chand then joined ANFA Academy, the only football academy in Nepal from where he joined Nepal top division club Machhindra FC before moving to HAL.

Coach Graham Roberts is all praise for the young defender saying, “Rohit is by far the best centre-half I have ever coaches. He is an extreme talent who will play at the highest level”.

However, the fact that remains to be seen is whether he will be given the permission to play for any of the EPL Clubs because the UK has a rule that states that players from countries ranked over 80 in the FIFA Ranking cannot play in the English Premier League as it becomes difficult to procure Work Permit.

Nepal is currently ranked 148, just one place below India in the FIFA Rankings.