After enduring a season shortened by COVID-19, ISL teams have started dipping their toes in the market again. For ISL 2021/22 season, for the very first time teams would be required to structure their teams in 4 foreigners format, reducing from 5 on the pitch from the last season. This makes the domestic transfers all the more important, as teams would be looking at quality players to fill their Indian slots in the squad.
We’ve already seen some major transfers like Liston Colaco to ATK Mohun Bagan(till 2023) and Sanjeev Stalin to Kerala Blasters (till 2023). Teams like Mumbai City, FC Goa and Odisha have also extended the contract of key players like Bipin Singh (2025), Brandon Fernandes (till 2024) and Jerry Mawihmingthanga (till 2025) to fend off interest from other clubs trying to prize away their key players.
After having a very good first season under the guidance of coach Manolo Marquez, Hyderabad have entered the market again to bring in the required quality to challenge for the playoff spots after narrowly missing out on it in the previous season. In the last campaign, even though the first team seemed to have a good understanding of each other and overall impact, the contribution from the bench left us wanting.
To fix these issues, if rumours are to be believed Hyderabad have started their season’s business by signing Nim Dorjee Tamang. The 25 year old Sikkimese player who primarily plays as a right-back can also feature as a centre back. It wasn’t just Hyderabad who had a resurgence, it was also Nim, a player who has been struggling for game time in his previous two seasons at the ISL level. Despite that he was able to grab some eyeballs with his above-average tacking and ground duels. He made 11 interceptions and 18 clearances and also managed to grab an assist for his team even though he just featured in just seven matches in the previous season.
Nim can prove to be a great signing for Hyderabad as he fulfils the role of a senior player to compete with Ashish Rai for a spot in the first team. With a seasoned professional like Nim around, Ashish would be even more determined to improve himself to stay in the first team otherwise the former Shillong Lajong product could take away his place. Nim at the start of his peak years would be looking to turn his career around and live up to the potential he once displayed as a youngster at the Air Force Academy, something which even led him to represent the Indian under 16 side back in the day.
~ Harsh Vardhan Singh
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