"I have a huge responsibility now," Kerala Blasters goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh remains focused on doing well

The Kerala Blasters pulled off a huge scalp when they announced that India U-17 World Cup sensation Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem will be joining the club ahead of the fifth edition of the Indian Super League (ISL). The 18-year-old has been the subject of a lot of attention ever since his shot to fame at the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India last year, where he punched above his weight on numerous occasions to stand out as one of India's best performers in the tournament.

Dheeraj made his debut for the Kerala Blasters during the Toyota Yaris LaLiga World pre-season tournament held in Kochi during July and has also been actively involved with the Kochi-based franchise during their pre-season tour to Thailand, The youngster admitted that he was happy with preparations leading up to the opening game against ATK and revealed that his first game against Melbourne City FC was a huge learning curve for him and the group.

"It was a great experience, I had an incredible pre-season with the whole team," Dheeraj told Sportskeeda during the Kerala Blasters' official kit launch in Kochi.

"Everyone is fit and everyone is looking forward to the ISL and we are ready to give our one hundred percent this season and hopefully we’ll have luck with trophies.

"It was a great experience making my debut against one of the biggest A-League clubs in the form of Melbourne City FC. It was a great feeling playing in front of such a huge crowd for the very first time in Kochi, even though the result was not in our favour.

"But still I can look back at those memories and when you play a bigger team, you always learn something positive. We learn from our mistakes and this is how we grow as an individual so we should take it on the chin and analyse ourselves for every mistake we do to make ourselves better.

"Experience will always give you knowledge and I’m taking all those things in a positive way," he added.

Dheeraj went on a trial with Motherwell in Scotland

The demands at Motherwell was a huge experience for me, admits Dheeraj

The shot-stopper hailing from Manipur has already scaled unparalleled heights at such a young age and is widely regarded as the torch-bearer and future of Indian football. Over the course of the last year or so, Dheeraj's life has witnessed a huge overhaul with him representing the country at the World Cup and then making his I-League debut with the Indian Arrows before securing a trial with Scottish Premiership outfit Motherwell in North Lanarkshire.

Despite being under the spotlight at a very young age, Dheeraj comes across as a very humble and determined youngster who believes that the best is yet to come. The Kerala Blasters goalkeeper admitted that the World Cup was a huge boost to his confidence and revealed that the job is far from done, considering the fact that he still has a long way to go in the future.

"The World Cup was a very big opportunity and I got my confidence level up after playing all those matches. I played a few international matches before the World Cup as well but playing in a competitive match in the World Cup and playing in a friendly match is quite different," he admitted

Dheeraj also revealed that his stint away from home at Motherwell demanded a lot of responsibility, both on and off the pitch, and admitted that it was a huge experience for him as a player and as an individual. However, the youngster remains unfazed by the challenges that he can face in the ISL and claimed that he is trying to learn new things every day in training along with his new teammates.

"After the World Cup, I went to Motherwell for the trial and it was a great experience for me not just the training but the responsibility as well. I stayed alone and the responsibility was huge for me like the way how I handle myself," he explained.

"During the preparation towards the World Cup and during the tournament, everything was taken care of by the AIFF and staffs but when I went alone to Motherwell it was only me staying so I had to take care of myself. I had a lot of responsibility in my hands both on and off the pitch.

"Now coming back to Kerala Blasters, it’s the same here because I have a huge responsibility. I’m one of the youngest goalkeepers in the league but we have good goalkeepers within the team in the form of Naveen (Kumar) Bhaiya and Sujith.

"We have been working really hard during pre-season and we are looking forward to giving our best in the upcoming season," he added.

He is the best person for me to learn from: Dheeraj on David James

Dheeraj revealed that he had a few offers abroad but he could not reach an agreement due to work permit issues faced by non-Europeans and admitted that when he eventually came back to India, he knew that Kerala Blasters would prove to be the ideal breeding ground to broaden his skill-set.

The youngster went on to claim that the Blasters' head coach David James is the ideal person to learn from in training, due to his glaring reputation as a renowned goalkeeper during his time in England, and added that the presence of such a passionate group of fans in the form of 'Manjappada' also played a crucial role in helping him make a decision.

"After I quit Indian Arrows, I had an agreement with Kerala Blasters to train with them for a few weeks until I get my Visa. So I trained with the team for a week or maybe even 10 days and yeah it was a great opportunity.

"I had some offers away from home but I couldn’t reach an agreement because there were some issues with my work permit. So finally I had to come back to India and I had to decide and I thought Kerala Blasters will be the right choice for me since there is a situation here in which the head coach is a renowned goalkeeper himself.

"I thought I will learn a lot, he is the best person to understand and learn from whenever I step on to the field.

"Not just that, Kerala Blasters have been doing well since the inaugural edition giving good performances and another plus point is that we have 'Manjappada', The Yellow Army, such a huge crowd.

"It’s going to be a huge boost from them as well so these are the reasons why I decided to choose Kerala Blasters."

Everyone struggles in their life but it is important to have faith: Dheeraj

The youngster, who grew up in a small town called Moirang in Manipur, admitted that his parents were not very supportive of his career during the early stages because they felt that sports in India had no chance as a career. Dheeraj revealed that he had to endure a lot of hardships to become a professional at such a young age and insisted that we should all believe in ourselves and have faith if we are to succeed despite all our struggles.

"Everyone struggles in their life. Even though I’m a professional player, I had to struggle to become a player," Dheeraj explained.

"Even the students struggle in different ways so I think punctuality, discipline and believing and having faith in yourself can take you a long way. This kind of mentality will have a good effect on you."

Dheeraj had to leave home at a very young age when he joined a residential school and spent his formative years attending training sessions at a local club called AMOFA whenever he got time away from school every Sunday. The 18-year-old admitted that the youngsters in the North East face a lot of issues pertaining to the availability of regular training and infrastructure despite their rich abundance in raw talent.

However, he added that with the national recognition attained by North East United in the ISL and Aizawl FC and NEROCA FC of the I-League, it should bode well for the future and insisted that he will try and inspire more people to take up football professionally from the region.

"Honestly, the facilities we have got here and in Bangalore and some of the other footballing states in India is not available in the North East," Dheeraj told Sportskeeda.

"Yes, we do have good players from Manipur and the North East in general but I feel the infrastructure that is available in our places is very poor and less teams were participating in the higher leagues before.

"Now we got North East United in the ISL, we’ve got Aizawl FC and NEROCA which is very good for us and we can develop more players that way and inspire more people from the North East to play football professionally.

"There are still a lot of players who are struggling to get proper training and education at the same time but these things will surely help more people in the future," he concluded.

Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem will become the youngest ever goalkeeper in the ISL when he makes his debut for the Kerala Blasters and we wish him all the very best ahead of the upcoming season. Godspeed Dheeraj!