5 Indian footballers who were signed by overseas clubs

With Romeo Fernandes close to signing a contract with Brazilian Club Atletico Paranaense, this slideshow shows the five Indian Players who have been signed by clubs outside of India.Despite its poor ranking in the FIFA ratings, India have had a recent rise in football in terms of individual talent because out of these 5 players, 4 players have been playing in the last decade and 3 of them are still active.These players have been very lucky to have signed contract for overseas clubs because most Indian Players can only dream of signing contracts for overseas clubs. These players have been signed by overseas clubs because of their hard work and because of good coaching.

#1 Mohammed Salim

Mohamed Salim became the 1^st ever Indian Player to sign a contract for an overseas club when he had signed for Scottish club Celtic in 1936. He only played 2 exhibition games for Celtic despite playing well in both of the two matches because he grew homesick and returned home. Celtic tried to persuade him to stay for a season, even offering him to give him a percent of pay from gate tickets for a charity match. But, he refused and instead asked for the money to be donated among the local orphans.

Salim was also offered a contract to play in Germany, but he didn’t accept it. Mohamed Salim has never received the recognition which he deserved even though he was the first Indian to play abroad.

It was evident that the Celtic Football association still remember him after Mohamed Salim’s son sent a letter to Celtic saying that Salim is very sick and that they don’t have enough money for his treatment, and to his surprise, he got a letter back with 100 euros inside. Mohamed Salim died on 5 November 1980 leaving behind a big legacy.

#2 Bhaichung Bhutia

Bhaichung Bhutia was the second Indian player to have signed a contract with an overseas club after he agreed to a 3-year contract with English club Bury F.C. He became the first Indian player to play a competitive game for an overseas club when he made his debut on 3rd October 1999 against Cardiff City. He went on to play 37 games for Bury F.C including a game against Manchester United, becoming the first Indian player to do that.

He netted 3 goals during his stay at Bury, becoming the first Indian-born player to score in the English league and the first Indian-born player to score in a European league.

He went on to play for 2 more overseas clubs: Malaysian club Perak FA on loan and Malaysian club Selangor MK Land. He played 8 games for Perak FA and netted 4 goals during his stay there. He played 5 games for Selangor and netted once for them.

Baichung Bhutia retired from football after the 2012-2013 season with United Sikkim. However, he had recently announced that he will be playing his one last season of football after signing with East Bengal, his former club.

He was known as the torchbearer of Indian Football because of his great contribution to Indian football, and was inducted into the AFC Hall of Fame on October 22nd 2014, the first Indian ever to achieve that honour.

#3 Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chetri was the 3rd Indian player to sign a contract with an overseas club when he signed a contract for American team Kansas City Wizards. He became the first Indian to play in the MLS by signing with them. He played a few pre-season games with them including a match against Manchester United, thus becoming the second Indian to play against Manchester United after Bhaichung Bhutia.

However, his stint with Kansas didn’t last long as he was back in India after signing for Chirag United because he didn’t get enough playing time with them and he had to compete for a spot in the national team.

He later went on to play for another overseas club, Sporting CP B which was the reserve team of Portuguese club Sporting CP. He played 3 games for the second division team but failed to score for them. After that, he had left the club to join Churchill Brothers to get more playing time.

Chhetri currently plays for I-League team Bengaluru F.C and currently serves as captain for the Indian football team captain.

#4 Subrata Paul

Subrata Paul became the 4th Indian player to sign a contract with an overseas club when he signed a contract with Danish team FC Vestsjaelland. He also became the first Indian goalkeeper and the second Indian player to play for a European top-tier team. However, he did not make any appearances for the first team and had only played with the reserve team. He was released by the team after the 2013-2014 season for the ISL.

He represented Mumbai City FC in the ISL, and now that the tournament is over, FC Vestsjaelland had indicated that they may sign him again. Even though he didn’t play any games with FC Vestsjaelland, they were very impressed with him and they knew that he had improved a lot. He was among the first few Indian players to be picked in the ISL draft.

#5 Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu became the 5th Indian player to sign a contract with an overseas club when he signed a contract with Norwegian club Stabaek on August 15^th 2014. By signing for Stabaek, he became the second Indian goalkeeper to sign a contract with an overseas club. He is currently the only Indian player who is playing for an overseas club. The 22-year-old is currently the backup goalkeeper for Stabaek with Sayouba Mande from Ivory Coast as the starting goalkeeper.

He is yet to make his debut for Stabaek, but he is expected to make his it soon. The season ended for Stabaek on November 26th, and Stabaek is expected to re-sign Gurpreet. He has played only 1 game for India so far as the selectors and the coaches have always preferred goalkeepers with experience. He is expected to play more games for India after his return from Norway as he now comes with a lot of experience after working with the Stabaek coaches.