I-League 2018: Minerva Punjab's Rakshit Dagar joins East Bengal ahead of upcoming season

What's the story?

Kolkata giants East Bengal have roped in goalkeeper Rakshit Dagar from current I-League title holders Minerva Punjab FC for the upcoming season. The Delhi-born previously played for DSK Shivajians and United Sikkim.

In case you didn't know...

Recently, there were rumours everywhere that Minerva's star striker Chencho Gyeltshen has also been signed by the Red and Gold brigade but the Punjab-based teams’ owner Ranjit Bajaj confirmed that the Bhutan-based player is still a part of their squad.

The heart of the matter

As per Minerva Punjab’s official Twitter handle, the custodian is set to land in Kolkata to play for East Bengal in their pursuit of a maiden I-League title next season. Not only that, his former team also wished him luck for his stint at the ‘Kolkata Maidan’.

East Bengal has had a mixed outing in the previous season finishing fourth in the I-League standings after being one of the contenders for quite some time. They reached the final of the inaugural Indian Super League but were thrashed by Bengaluru FC in the final.

What's next?

Minerva Punjab FC stunned everyone by winning the I-League last season with a total of 35 points from their quota of 18 games while East Bengal ended up with 31 points. Minerva Punjab would be looking forward to holding on to their winning combination in the upcoming season while East Bengal will push hard for a maiden title.

Author's take

East Bengal had a great chance to bag the I-League last season but failed to capitalize on the opportunity and lost points regularly in the later stages of the tournament. Following the I-League season, veteran Subhash Bhowmick was roped in by the management as a technical director apart from Coach Khalid Jamil, but the partnership did not get along smoothly. Hopefully, with several fresh signings, they will have better fortunes in the upcoming season.