Mumbai City FC on Saturday announced the permanent signing of Vinit Rai following his loan spell. The 25-year-old midfielder has inked a one-year contract with the MCFC. (More Football News)
Rai, born in Assam and having attended the Tata Football Academy, had joined Mumbai City FC in January 2022 on a loan from Odisha FC and made 14 appearances for the club across all competitions, including the 2022 AFC Champions League campaign.
The club had loaned Rai for another year, which kept him at MCFC for the 2022-23 season, wherein he played a crucial role in the club's record-breaking ISL Shield win, featuring 11 times and scoring two against Chennaiyin FC and NorthEast United FC.
Rai has so far played 90 games in the ISL starting in the 2016 season, featuring for Kerala Blasters, now defunct Delhi Dynamos, and Odisha FC before he joined the Mumbai City FC.
Rai was quoted as saying in a release from Mumbai City FC, "The learning and experiences I've had in my time here have helped me grow a lot. Coach Des, his staff and everyone here has supported me wholeheartedly and I am determined to help the club achieve success just like we did last season."
"Vinit has shown his qualities with us over the past two seasons and will be an important player for us going into next season. He has been patient and worked extremely hard and learned how we want him to play and is an extremely positive player in our environment," said Mumbai City FC head coach Des Buckingham.
