Two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) have officially announced the retentions of Prabir Das and Debjit Majumder ahead of the 2017/18 season.
Goal had earlier reported about goalkeeper Debjit signing a multi-year contract with the Sourav Ganguly co-owned side while The Red and Whites reached an agreement with Das on Wednesday afternoon. Both Das and Majumder have thus ended their association with Mohun Bagan who will feature in the I-League next season.
The Sodepur-born Das has been a clubtrotter in the ISL so far. After being picked up by Zico's FC Goa in the inaugural season, he joined Delhi Dynamos in 2015 but finally made a name for himself under the guidance of Jose Molina at ATK, when he was deployed as a utility player on the flanks, often coming off the bench.
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Prabir was a regular first team member at Pailan Arrows, the developmental side run by All India Football Federation (AIFF) which was disbanded in 2013. In the last season of the team, he made 24 appearances in the top-tier competition.
After being a bechwarmer at Dempo, Das joined Mohun Bagan in 2015 and grew as a footballer under the tutelage of coach Sanjoy Sen. In the recently completed 2016/17 season, Das turned out to be a 'super-sub' of sorts, where he single-handedly changed the complexion of the match on more than a couple of occasions when being called upon from the dugout after an impressive Calcutta Football League (CFL) campaign.
Both the players had offers from the other two big teams from the city, but have now joined the new franchise on a three-year deal.
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On the announcement, Raghu Iyer, who serves as the CEO of ATK commented, "Debjit has been a revelation for ATK as the team’s first choice goalkeeper last season. The performance and hard work he had put in proved to be a vital mechanism in our road to success. We are also elated to retain Prabir Das for the forthcoming season"
"Their performances last year had been game changers for us on numerous occasions. We will look forward to vital contributions from them on the field this season as well", he added.
The club haven't yet announced an Under-21 retainee nor a foreigner. As of now, ATK will be expected to join the player draft on 23rd July from the third round.