Two Indian U-15 football players eyed by Barcelona and Inter

Bidyananda Singh

Two boys from AIFF U-19 academy team have caught the eye of two of the biggest clubs in Europe i.e. Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Both Gursimrat Singh (16) and Bidyananda Singh (16) were part of the AIFF U-19 team that won all the matches of U-19 I-league and qualified for its final round in Jamshedpur. The funny thing is that team comprised of players that were at least 3 years younger than their counterparts and the team was only included to fast track 97 born players.

Gursimrat is a defender who can play Right back and as a central defender whereas Bidyananda is a midfielder who can also play as a striker.

These two players were part of a five man team that was sent to Nike All Asia camp in Qatar where they trained under coaches from Manchester United, Barcelona and Inter Milan. Both also made into the final eleven from the camp and Bidyananda being voted the best player.

The news is that Barcelona are interested in the midfielder and have asked AIFF to keep them posted whereas Gursimrat is being eyed by the Nerazzuri. The Italian giants have promised to have him scouted in his next international match.

Gursimrat Singh

Gursimrat had this to say about the news and his time at the camp in Qatar,

“It’s good to be noticed but the immediate focus remains the national team and making it to the elite academy. We can seriously think about clubs only if we make the cut for the national team,”

“Inter’s coaches were stressing on individual attention while Barcelona’s on passing and movement. United’s coaches focused more on the physical side of the game. I can’t really pick a favorite.”

And his team mate Bidyananda had this to say,

“I usually play defensive midfield but they played me as striker and I did well. If you ask me the primary difference between such a camp and training in India — it’s the quality of the players. All eleven players were of the same caliber and the interchange of positions helped out overall game.”

Both players were also extremely complimentary of Indian coaching’s think tank i.e. Wim Koevermans, Scott O’Donnell and Rob Baan.