ISL round-up: Bengaluru FC sign Eduardo Garcia; Mumbai City FC sign Flamengo’s Thiago Santos on loan
Bengaluru FC announce Eduardo Garcia signing
Bengaluru FC announced the signing of Spanish winger Eduardo ‘Edu’ Garcia Martin from Spanish side Real Zaragoza on Sunday and thereby completed their quota of foreign signings.
In an official statement, Head Coach Albert Roca was quoted as saying, “Edu is an exciting young winger. His versatility down the flank will provide us with great options in terms of personnel as well as our game plan. He will be a great addition to our squad and fits in well with our philosophy.”
The 27-year-old Spaniard was excited at the prospect and said, “I’m very excited for joining the club. From the first time, I liked the idea of playing for Bengaluru’s team in the Indian Super League. Football in India is growing a lot and it’s an important challenge for me. I hope I can help the club to reach the objectives for the season. I can’t wait to start!”
Edu joined Real Zaragoza’s youth setup as a 12-year-old and gradually progressed through the rungs of professional football. After spending almost 10 years at Zaragoza, he moved to CD Ebro, where he played a season. He then enjoyed a brief stint at SD Ejea before returning to Ebro.
Having impressed at Ebro the winger moved back to childhood club Real Zaragoza in 2016. He made 27 appearances for the Los Maños last season scoring two goals.
Mumbai City FC secure loan deal for Thiago Santos
Mumbai City FC secured a loan move for Brazilian playmaker Thiago Santos from Flamengo ahead of the upcoming season of the ISL; the club announced the deal yesterday.
Santos is the fifth Brazilian signing for Mumbai after Marcio Rosario, Gerson Vieira, Leo Costa and Everton Santos. The 22-year-old has spent his entire career until now at Flamengo. He did win the won the U-20 Rio de Janeiro league back in 2015 but injuries have hampered his progress.
He suffered an unfortunate ligament injury earlier this year which meant he could only play 175 minutes of league football in the last two seasons. Thiago would be hoping for more first-team opportunities playing for Mumbai in the upcoming season.
With the ISL kicking off after the World Cup, the Mumbai team is expected to fly out to Spain for their pre-season training this month.