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What's the story?
Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan are said to have released Australian defensive midfielder Diogo Ferreira after he struggled to recover from an injury which he suffered during the pre-season.
In case you didn't know...
Mohun Bagan stand second in the current I-League table. Although Mohun Bagan emerged victorious in their last match by a margin of 5 goals, the victory became a bittersweet event with four players suffering injuries.
Japanese midfielder Yuta Kinowaki has been ruled out for a month due to a broken collarbone. Although Sony Norde, Ansumah Kromah and Arijit Bagui also suffered injuries, they are expected to play the next match against Shillong Lajong.
The heart of the matter
Mohun Bagan had signed Australian defensive midfielder Diogo Ferreira ahead of the 2017-18 season. Ferreira, who is of Portuguese ancestry, has represented the youth academy of Portuguese giants FC Porto. He has played in Australia and Malaysia before heading towards India.
Ferreira suffered a back spasm during the pre-season training and was rested in the I-League opener against Minerva Punjab. He struggled to recover from his injury as a result of which, he is said to have underperformed in the training sessions.
With most of the promising Indian players moving to the ISL, the Mohun Bagan squad has been depleted of a quality midfielder. The release of Diogo Ferreira will indeed aggravate the midfield problem. Also with the international transfer window being currently closed, Sanjoy Sen will have to use an Indian player to fill the vacancy, unless he is prepared to wait till January.
What's next?
Mohun Bagan will be hosting Shillong Lajong in their next I-League fixture on 14 December 2017. Ahead of the match, former East Bengal forward Manandeep Singh is said to have trained with the Green and Maroons. While Manandeep could well turn out to be Diogo's replacement, it will be interesting to see how replacing a midfielder with a forward solves their problem.
Author's take
With the Mohun Bagan midfield being depleted, Sanjoy Sen needs to experiment with various combinations and also give chance to the academy graduates.
