I-League 2018-19: Minerva Punjab tie-up with German club Borussia Monchengladbach
I-League defending champions Minerva Punjab are going to tie-up with German top division club Borussia Monchengladbach. Almost all the formalities are completed and an official announcement will be made soon.
Minerva, who have one of the best Indian youth development set-up and academy, attracted interest from Borussia. The German club is also famous for producing exciting talent at the junior level, most of whom went on to become legends.
Borussia, which is currently in third position in the Bundesliga table, have made a contact with Minerva for the collaboration. After the talks, a tie-up has been finalized.
“We are the first team from India to tie-up with Borussia Monchengladbach. But the most interesting thing is we don’t have to pay money for this. In most of the tie-ups the Indian clubs have to pay franchise fee or something like that. We are happy with this collaboration,” Minerva Punjab owner Ranjit Bajaj told Sportskeeda.
“Borussia are very old German club. They are doing exactly what we are doing – youth development. They got interested in us because of our youth development. They develop their own academy players and play them in their first team. We do the same.”
“They want to do something right from the grassroots. They want to exchange players from the junior level. Also, our senior team players will also get the advice and help from the senior level coaches. Then when India’s ranking goes up to 70 and they can sign Indian players for their senior level,” Bajaj added.
Not only that, the junior players will also get an opportunity to train at the Monchengladbach academy. The German club will also send their team to Minerva.
“It was because of the juniors that I got interested in this collaboration. India’s future depends on our junior players. So, if they go there in Germany and train for some days or months then it will only help Indian football,” said Bajaj.
The club have already started promoting the collaboration through the social media handle. The fans are also excited to see how the move works.
Borussia has long been working extensively on youth development and many German players have come out to represent their nation at the national level. The most high-profile youth product from their academy is Marc Andre Ter-Stegen, the goalkeeper who plays at Barcelona.
Also, former Germany player and Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes was also a Borussia academy product.