Nineteen year old Rohit Chand could become the first I-League player to make the transition to the English Premier League with both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur said to be monitoring his progress. Chand, a central defender who joined I-League side HAL in 2010, is a regular in the Nepal national team and became the youngest player ever to represent Nepal when he made his debut for the senior side just twenty two days after his seventeenth birthday.
Now firmly established in the national senior team, he has been identified as a special talent by National Team Coach Graham Roberts, the former Spurs, Chelsea and England defender. With French champions Lille also showing interest the omens are good for the youngster and were he to make it to the big time he would serve as an inspiration to all of the young players both in Nepal and in the I-League who have dreams of playing for Europe’s best clubs.
This is not happening. It's just a repeat of a manufactured story. The standard of football in Nepal is poor and no matter what level of individual attributes playing in and against technically deficient teams for 19(?)years is not preparation for playing in the Premiership. Spurs will already know exactly how good he is since Graham Roberts (Nepal Manager - Ex Spurs) will have told them. If they wanted him they'd have got him by now.
ReplyDeleteGary Birtles was a little older than Chand when he was signed by Nottingham Forest from non-league Long Eaton United. He went on to win the League Championship and two European Cups with Forest before he moved to Manchester United. He also won 3 England caps...
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing with Birtles is that he joined Forest when they were in the Second Division - perhaps he wouldn't have had the same impact if they'd already been in the top division. Having been brought in to a higher quality football environment Birtles developed as a player and fulfilled his raw potential...
It seems Graham Roberts feels Chand is an extraordinary talent with the potential to play at the highest level. Chand's agent, Jonathan Hope, is clearly very good at generating media attention, creating interest and doing some strange transactions - he took Jaime Navarro, another young central defender, from Real Madrid to Kettering Town after reportedly rejecting a contract from Bolton Wanderers
It seems Chand may also now be destined for Kettering Town, if he can get a work-permit which would appear his biggest challenge