Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri has made a spectacular start to his ISL career. Despite missing Mumbai City FC's first two games, Chhetri is the joint top scorer in the ISL so far with six goals.
The 31-year-old also became the first Indian to score a hat-trick in the competition.
Chhetri received glowing praise from Mumbai City FC assistant coach, Oscar Bruzon, who believes the Indian is ready to make a move to Europe. “Majority of the foreign players who play in the ISL come from the top leagues in Europe and I feel Sunil is one over them. So yes, Sunil is ready to play in a top European League,” declared Bruzon.
“Sunil is very hard working. He is also smart and exactly understands the role of a midfield player. He also understands how to play as a striker, but we consider him a very important player for us in the middle of the park,” he added.
Chhetri has already had a stint with an overseas club: Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer in the US.
He had to miss the inaugural season of the ISL because his I-League club Bengaluru FC barred their players from taking part. However, Bengaluru FC later relented and Chhetri was the star attraction at the auction ahead of the second ISL season.
Mumbai City FC, co-owned by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor, snapped him up for Rs 1.2 crores.
Chhetri skipped the first two games because he was on national duty and did not make an impression on his ISL debut against Chennaiyin FC. But he was simply stunning in the next three games, scoring in each of them and grabbing the Hero of the Match award in all three.
Scoring goals is in Chhetri's DNA. The ace striker is India's highest ever goal scorer, with 47 goals for the country. Hopefully, he will grab the attention of a top European club after his heroics in the ISL.
