Published By: Feroz Khan
PTI
Last Updated: March 27, 2024, 17:28 IST
Chennai, India
Bijay Chhetri began his footballing career with Shillong Lajong. (Agencies)
Rising Indian footballer Bijay Chhetri has joined Latin American club Colon FC on a loan until the end of the year from Chennaiyin FC.
Bijay thus became the first Indian footballer to sign a professional contract with a Latin American club based in Uruguay.
Colon FC is a 116-year-old professional football club based in Montevideo and currently competing in the second division of Uruguay. The club has the option to make the move permanent.
As part of their commitment towards nurturing and developing young Indian talent, the two-time ISL champions Chennaiyin roped in Chhetri in July last year and since then the talented 22-year-old defender from Manipur has been training and honing his skills under the expert coaches of the club.
The 22-year-old Bijay from Manipur began his footballing career with Shillong Lajong in 2016 and made his senior appearance with Indian Arrows in 2018.
Since then, he has played for clubs like Chennai City, Real Kashmir and Sreenidi Deccan before joining CFC this season, his maiden ISL club.
“I feel so excited to get this opportunity for the new challenge in my professional career. I hope to put in good performances to enhance my game, repay the trust shown in me by Colon FC and to keep the Indian flag flying high. I am very well aware that If I do well it can pave the way for future Indian players also to move abroad into these markets. I wish to sincerely thank Vita Dani and the Chennaiyin FC management along with my agency Soccer Consultants Group for facilitating the transfer. Without their help it wouldn’t have been possible,” Chhetri expressed.
Marcelo Rifas, director of Colon Futbol Club, speaking on the transfer said, “When a Bijay’s profile was proposed to us, looking at his videos from the past, his profile and our internal references we got more and more confident of the player. Now we sincerely hope he can come at the earliest and get integrated into our team. We see him as a solid first team player for us. It also helps us open a line of sourcing players from a new marketplace.”
With PTI Inputs
