Atletico de Kolkata unveils new jersey
ATK have signed 5 new Indian players.
Jewel Raja, Sushil Kumar Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Nadong Bhutia and Clifford Miranda. Denzil Franco, Mohan Raj Nallapan, Baljit Singh and Arnab Mandal have been retained by the side.
Among the big signings is Valmiro Lopes Rocha, better known as Valdo.
A former Osasuna and Levante player, he was also a part of the Spain under-21 team.
The team has also signed two young players- Sameegh Doutie and Jose Luis Espinosa Arroyo (Tiri).
Atletico will start its training from Aug 25.
The 5 weeks of training sessions will see the team travel to Spain, where they will train for 3 weeks followed by their return to Kolkata for the remaining 2 weeks of training.
About their new recruitment, co-owner Sanjiv Goenka said, “Yesterday we signed a very important player who can play on both wings. He is very highly acclaimed and the coach and sports director are both very happy with his appointment.”
He also added, “There are two very young and promising international players. Tiri and Doutie. They are both tipped as very strong prospects for the international arena in the future. We can expect to see very strong football from them.”
ATK has appointed Alberto Marrero as their new Sports Director.
Marrero had previously worked with La Liga team Atletico de Madrid.
He said, “A pleasure to be a part of the ATK family. Want to thank all the support staffs. I am looking forward to the start of my new job.”
When asked who has the final say in team’s selection, head coach Antonio Habas said, “I take all the decisions. Baichung acts as a consultant but when it comes to the technical aspects and the team selection I do the job.”
The coach said he wants to create a balanced team and perform well.
When asked about the dropped players he said, “We want to talk about the team, not any individual players.”
Co-owner Harshavardhan Neotia said, “We want to talk about the current team and thank the old players for the championship last year.”
ATK side:
Head Coach : Antonio Lopez Habas
Goalkeeper Coach: Predipkumar Bhaktawer
Fitness Expert: Miguel Martinez
Players line-up as of now:
Iain Edward Hume
Borja Fernandez
Josemi
Ofentse Nato
Jaime Gavilán Martínez
José Luis Espinosa Arroyo
Sameehg Doutie
Juan Calatayud(Goalkeeper)
Valmiro Lopes Rocha
Jewel Raja
Sushil Kumar Singh
Syed Rahim Nabi
Nadong Bhutia
Clifford Miranda
Denzil Franco
16. Mohan Raj Nallapan
17. Baljit Singh
18. Arnab Mandal
(Reporting By Sudipto Maity)
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