Colombian defender Oswaldo Henriquez is close to signing for India Super League side Kerala Blasters for the upcoming 2020-2021 India Super League season.
If the deal goes through, the Colombian will be the team’s first foreign signing of the summer transfer.
Nishu Kumar, Givson Singh, and Ritwick Das are the Indian players who have put pen to paper with the Kochi-based Clubside.
Henriquez, 31, has played in South American leagues, including the Colombian and Brazilian football leagues.
Some of his previous clubs include Millionarios, Sports Recife in Brazil, and Vasco Da Gama. He played for Millionarios between 2007 and 2016, making 126 appearances in that period.
He spent two years at Sports Recife between 2016 and 2018, making 26 appearances before making 37 appearances for Vasco Da Gama in a one year stint.
Kerala Blasters made the seventh place in the 2019-20 season of the India Super League, making 19 points out of 18 games scoring 29 goals and conceding 32.
Meanwhile, Kerala Blasters’ Slovenian striker Matej Poplatnik has joined Scottish Clubside Livingston FC. Matej had just one more year to run on his contract with the India Super League side.
He was with Kaposvari Rakoczi on loan in Hungary last season, but he could only manage six appearances with just one of it being a start.
Meanwhile, Kibu Vicuna was recently appointed as coach of the Kerala Blasters as they aim to make the playoffs stages of the India Super League after three consecutive seasons without making a playoff appearance.
Football in India is yet to resume due to the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the All India Football Federation has been looking for possible ways of getting the sports back on track.
One of the ways includes starting the league in November behind closed doors with Kerala and Goa being in the forefronts of hosting matches.
Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu