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I-League side East Bengal may have just solved their problems up the pitch in the striking department as the Red and Golds have brought in former Kitchee SC and Gimnastic Tarragona forward Marcos de la Espada to their roster.
Espada made his professional debut with Tercera side Club Esportiu Constancia in the 2004-05 season.
After scoring 18 goals in 33 games in his first season, he earned a move to the reserve side of LaLiga club RCD Mallorca. However, he did not get the much-needed game time with RCD Mallorca and thus moved to other Tercera and Segunda B Division sides like Sant Andreu (Tercera, Barcelona), Orihuela (Tercera) and Sporting Mahones (Segunda Division B) before finally ending up at Segunda division side Gimnastic Tarragona in 2012.
Espada stayed at Gimnastic for four seasons, scoring 39 goals in 124 matches. In 2016, he earned a move to Kitchee SC but could not make his mark there. He opted for a move to Kwoon Chun Southern FC in Hong Kong to get more game time. \
Espada started in almost every game for the Hong Kong side and had arguably his best professional football season. He scored 22 goals in his 28 appearances over the two seasons.
After a spell of Non-Spanish football, he returned to Spain in the Segunda Division B and penned a contract with Atletico Baleares in 2018. He got 33 games under his belt and scored nine goals.
East Bengal already has the likes of Abhijit Sarkar, Bidyasagar Singh and Ronaldo Oliveira in the striking department with Jaime Santos Colado to compliment from behind.
Such young names needed an old campaigner to make the line-up balanced. The 33-year-old Marcos Espada might be the perfect choice to fill the void.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has not officially communicated a change in the number of foreigners in the I-League.
Hence, East Bengal could see yet another forward or midfielder join them within this month before the Indian Transfer Window closes down.
The side is also rumoured to undergo a pre-season camp in Europe post the Durand Cup and Calcutta Football League season.
Watch his goals and highlights from the previous few seasons :
