ISL 2020-21: All of ATK Mohun Bagan FC's foreign players
The Indian Super League is well and truly underway, and with gameweek one officially over, fans have got a taste of what to expect this season. However, for the uninitiated, we continue our series of taking a closer look at all the foreign signings that various teams have made. Here, we run you through ATK Mohun Bagan FC's non-Indian players for this season.
ATK Mohun Bagan FC's foreign players
Jose Luis Espinosa Arroyo (Tiri)
Jose Luis Espinosa Arroyo or Tiri is a 29-year-old Spanish defender who started his career at the early age of 17 with Cadiz FC in the Spanish second division. He has played in the Indian Super League since 2015, playing 24 matches for ATK over the course of two seasons. Tiri established himself in the heart of the defense and won the league with ATK in 2016.
He then moved to Jamshedpur FC ahead of the 2017-18 season, where he stood out once again. However, injuries hampered Tiri’s last season with Jamshedpur, and the new season sees him moving to ATK Mohun Bagan, hoping to make history with the club in their first season.
Bradden Inman
Inman is a 28-year-old Australian midfielder, who will be completing ATK Mohun Bagan’s mandatory Asian player spot in the coming season. Although born in Australia, Inman began his professional football journey with the youth teams of Newcastle United and went on loan with Crewe Alexandra for a year.
Between the years 2013 and 2019, Inman became an established player in the lower leagues of English football, before moving to his native Australia in the 2019-20 season with Brisbane Roar. He played for the Roar 25 times, scoring four goals and registering five assists. His contributions to ATK Mohun Bagan will be key through the course of the season.
Carl McHugh
Carl McHugh is 27, at the peak of his career, and an ATK Mohun Bagan player. That should tell you a lot about the commitment this Irish midfielder has to the club, after most recently making 47 appearances for Scottish club Motherwell before joining ISL side ATK last season.
He is currently on a one-year contract with ATK Mohun Bagan, and his qualities of breaking up the play and distribution are crucial to good performances from the whole team.
McHugh was part of the Reading youth setup in England, and among other clubs, was an integral part of the Bradford City team that reached the League Cup final in 2012-13 – the first time in 51 years of English football that a fourth tier team had played in a cup final.
Edu Garcia
Thirty-year-old Spanish forward Edu Garcia is one of the most crucial players that ATK Mohun Bagan have in their ranks. Starting his youth career with his hometown club Real Zaragoza, Garcia moved to CD Ebro, before embarking on a nomadic journey through Spanish football and ending up at Zaragoza once again in 2016.
Garcia’s stint with Indian football began in the 2017-18 season, where he played with Bengaluru FC and became a fan-favorite. Next season, he moved to ATK in the second half, became one of their most crucial players, and eventually helped them win the title in the 2019-20 season, scoring in the final. ATK Mohun Bagan will hope it is time for Garcia to write history with them this time around.
Javier Hernandez
Thirty-one-year-old Spanish attacking midfielder Javier Hernandez most notably played for the Real Madrid Castilla team, for whom he made 34 appearances at the beginning of his footballing journey. Hernandez then went on to play for clubs in Romania, Poland, and Azerbaijan.
He also played for Cracovia Krakow, before spending his first season in Indian football with eventual champions ATK in the 2019-20 season. Hernandez will be key for ATK Mohun Bagan in unlocking opposition defenses in the league this time around as well.
David Williams
One half of the deadly Williams-Krishna partnership that terrorized opposition defenses in the 2019-20 season of the Indian Super League, 31-year-old Australian David Williams signed his first professional contract with Queensland Roar, but this was not before going on trials with clubs such as Brugge in Belgium and Liverpool in England. He went on to play for various A-League teams and even played for Brondby.
It was for Wellington Phoenix that the partnership of Williams and Krishna really came to the fore, and it was exported successfully to the Indian Super League in the 2019-20 season where he won the league with ATK, scoring seven goals and assisting five times. His contributions will be as important in the new season for ATK Mohun Bagan.
Roy Krishna
Fijian Born. Indian descent. Certified goal-scorer. There are not many strikers better than Roy Krishna in the Indian Super League, and he proved it last season by staying in the race for the golden boot till the very last game against Chennaiyin FC. His goals last season were crucial in ATK winning the league in his debut season with the club, having been a record-breaking goalscorer for A-League side Wellington Phoenix.
He scored more than 50 goals for Wellington in his career, has 23 goals for Fiji at the international level, and is arguably ATK Mohun Bagan’s most important player. A fit Roy Krishna can wreak havoc on opposition defenses, and his own expectation will be no less than winning the title once again in ISL 2020-21 with ATK Mohun Bagan.