I-League Transfers: Mohun Bagan signs NEROCA midfielder Katsumi Yusa for the 2019-20 season

Former NEROCA midfielder and Japanese stalwart Katsumi Yusa has signed with Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan for the upcoming 2019-20 season. The Fukushima Bomber announced the same through his official Facebook account.

Mohun Bagan fans were elated to hear the news of Katsumi donning the Green and Maroons' jersey for the 2019-20 season. After all, he was a part of the 2014-15 I-League winning squad which Mohun Bagan won after 13 seasons when it was in its previous avatar, the NFL. The next season Mohun Bagan even won the Federation Cup.

Katsumi Yusa stayed with Mohun Bagan for four seasons from 2013 to the early half of 2017. He was also a part of the 2016 AFC Cup squad that reached the Round of 16 of the tournament only to lose to Singapore's Tampines Rovers.

Katsumi Yusa forayed into the Indian shores first in the month of January 2011 when he signed up for ONGC. The Japanese was called to prevent them from being relegated but couldn't help their cause. However, he stayed loyal to ONGC and helped them gain promotion the next season by helping them finish second in the 2012 I-League Second Division.

Katsumi stayed on at ONGC for another season and ensured they finished eighth in the table. However, the club failed to meet AFC's licensing criteria as it was an institutional club. As a result, the club was excluded from participating in the next season's I-League.

It was then that Mohun Bagan signed Katsumi Yusa and his storied career in the Green and Maroons' jersey began. Mohun Bagan's arch-rivals East Bengal signed him for the 2017-18 season, where he helped them finish fourth in the I-League and reaching the finals of the Super Cup.

At the onset of 2018-19 season, he signed for NEROCA in the I-League and secured them the sixth spot in the points table. He even scored the quickest goal in the I-League/NFL's history when he found the back of the net after 13 seconds in a match against Churchill Brothers.