One of the biggest signings of the transfer window in Indian football has to be Lallianzuala Chhangte joining Mumbai City FC. Although it was obvious as Chhangte was with the Islanders on loan for the last few months and even featured for them in the historic AFC Champions League. However now he is officially signed a contract with the Islanders and have joined the club permanently.
While he signed a few days ago, Chhangte finally broke his silence as he feels that signing for Mumbai City FC is a step in the right direction for him and his career. He believes that the last few months have been sensational and hence signing a three year contract was not much of a tough choice. He believes that the club makes him a better player and he wants to continue that trend.
“It is the best choice for my future development. They are linked with the City Football Group so that can help me become a better player. Who knows, there might be a possibility to play outside India if I perform well,” the exciting winger told in an interaction with Hindustan Times.
He then continued about the fact that how City Football Group takes their football seriously and how they were sensational in the AFC Champions League and finished second and missed the chance of getting to the knockouts only by a whisker. “They are serious about football, not just wanting to compete in India. We saw that in the Asian Champions League, we weren’t just participating there, we were performing. Mumbai City has a plan which is a very good thing for a player,” Chhangte added.
The Islanders did not have the best Indian Super League season under new coach Des Buckingham but the Englishman made up for it with some exceptional performance at the continental level. But Chhangte is keen to revive his career while helping the Islanders fight for more titles. The former Chennaiyin FC winger also believes that he will be back in the Indian national team.
Chhangte was in the 41-member probables but did not make it to the final squad for the Asian Cup qualifiers. However he is certain that he will make it to the squad pretty soon as he trusts his abilities. “I was there in the 41-player list but unfortunately I wasn’t in the final squad. They did a pretty good job in the qualifiers. I will be back soon, that is for sure,” said Chhangte.
The 24-year-old did not have the best of the seasons last time out in the ISL as he played a total of 19 games combining for Chennaiyin FC and then for Mumbai City later on in the season. However despite playing 1166 minutes last season he only had two contributions with a single goal and as many assist.
So it will be a challenge for him too to pick up the pace and do much better than he did last season. He needs to increase his output and also work a lot on his decision making in the final third, those are the areas he needs to improve in the upcoming season to have any chance of getting back into the national team or even to catch head coach Igor Stimac’s eyes.
