The Chennaiyin captain’s armband will be circulated among Jordan Murray, Ryan Edwards, Aakash Sangwan, Lazar Cirkovic, Rafael Crivellaro and Rahim Ali
Mumabi City FC and Chennaiyin FC have announced their respective squads for the 2023-24 Indian Super League season. While Mumbai City have named a 27-member squad, Chennaiyin's squad features 29 players. Mumbai City FC are the defending champions of the ISL League Winners' Shield and will kick off their league title defence against NorthEast United on Sunday evening. (More Football News)
Des Buckingham’s side set the stage ablaze last season, breaking as many as 17 all-time ISL records, en route to winning the League Winners’ Shield in 18 games, with two rounds to spare. The Islanders will come in to the new ISL campaign aiming to successfully defend the ISL League Winners Shield.
Last season’s ISL Player of the Season and AIFF Men’s Player of the Year, Lallianzuala Chhangte, will aim to repeat his exploits as he features in the Islanders’ squad alongside the likes of Jorge Pereyra Díaz, Bipin Singh and Vikram Partap Singh in attack.
Having won the ISL Shield for two seasons in a row, Greg Stewart will aim to add a third consecutive league title to his rich list of accolades.
The likes of Phurba Lachenpa, Rahul Bheke, Rostyn Griffiths, Mehtab Singh and Apuia, who form the core of Des Buckingham’s Mumbai City side, will be supported by a mix of youth and experience in Mohammad Nawaz, Sanjeev Stalin, Halen Nongtdu, Vinit Rai, Valpuia, Gurkirat Singh, Ayush Chhikara and others.
Eight new Islanders – Akash Mishra, Tiri, Yoëll van Nieff, Abdenasser El Khayati, Jayesh Rane, Seilenthang Lotjem, Franklin Nazareth and Nathan Rodrigues – joined the club over the summer and will all feature in their debut ISL campaign with Mumbai City FC.
Full squad
Goalkeepers: Phurba Lachenpa, Mohammad Nawaz, Bhaskar Roy, Ahan Prakash
Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Valpuia, Tiri, Mehtab Singh, Sanjeev Stalin, Rostyn Griffiths, Nathan Rodrigues, Akash Mishra, Halen Nongtdu
Midfielders: Yoell van Nieff, Vinit Rai, Jayesh Rane, Apuia Ralte, Franklin Nazareth
Forwards: Vikram Partap Singh, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Gurkirat Singh, Seilenthang Lotjem, Abdenasser El Khayati, Greg Stewart, Ayush Chhikara, Bipin Singh, Jorge Pereryra Diaz
Meanwhile, Chennaiyin's 29-member squad features a blend of experienced players and promising young talents.
“Our model at Chennaiyin is different from those big spenders. We obviously invest where we can, but it’s more in young players. And I’ve been known to give young players a chance and develop young Indians and that’s what I’ll continue to do. We’ve got a good mix,” Chennaiyin head coach Owen Coyle said ahead of the club’s opening match of the ISL 2023-24 against Odisha FC, scheduled to be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening.
The club has decided to name a six-man leadership group to be the driving force behind the squad. The captain’s armband will be circulated among Jordan Murray, Ryan Edwards, Aakash Sangwan, Lazar Cirkovic, Rafael Crivellaro and Rahim Ali.
Two-time champions are scheduled to kickstart their ISL 2023-24 campaign with two away matches — Odisha FC (today) and NorthEast United FC (September 29) — before they return home to host Mohun Bagan Super Giant FC on October 7 in their third game of the season.
Complete squad:
Goalkeepers: Samik Mitra, Debjit Majumder, Prateek Kumar Singh, Mohanraj K
Defenders: Ankit Mukherjee, Ryan Edwards Lazar Cirkovic, Ajith Kumar, Bikash Yumnam, Bijay Chhetri, Aakash Sangwan, Sarthak Golui, Sachu Siby and RS Preyarhanjan
Midfielders: Jiteshwor Singh, Cristian Battocchio, Mohammed Rafique, Ayush Adhikari, Rafael Crivellaro, Ninthoi Meetei, Alexander Romario Jesuraj, Sourav Das, Farukh Choudhary and Nesta JP Colin
Forwards: Vincy Barretto, Rahim Ali, Irfan Yadwad, Jordan Murray and Connor Shields