East Bengal FC set to acquire the services of Spanish forward Iago Falque - Reports

East Bengal FC are well on course to shake up the Indian Super League (ISL) market as they are reportedly close to securing the signature of former AS Roma forward Iago Falque.

According to Marcus Mergulhao of Times Of India, the Kolkata Giants are on the verge of completing the signing of the Spanish winger in the ongoing winter transfer window.

After starting his youth career at Real Madrid, Iago Falque switched to join their arch-rivals FC Barcelona a couple of years later. However, he failed to break into the club's first team and made his way into the Serie A through Juventus. Ultimately, he came to his own during spells at Genoa, AS Roma, and Torino.

Before moving to Colombian club America de Cali, Falque made 177 appearances in the Italian premier division, scoring 48 goals and assisting on 25 occasions. His stint in South America was cut short after he was sidelined for an extended period with a broken tibia.

Since May of last year, the 34-year-old has been away from competitive football and recovering from the injury. While there are injury concerns around the Spaniard, without an iota of doubt, East Bengal might have managed to bring to the ISL one of the most established footballers in recent history.

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How will East Bengal FC accommodate Iago Falque into their squad?

Currently, the Red and Gold Brigade have their six allotted overseas slot filled with Cleiton Silva, Borja Herrera, Javier Siverio, Saul Crespo, Hijazi Maher, and Jose Antonio Pardo.

However, there are suggestions that the management and the staff are looking to offload one of the attackers in the foreign slot and bring in Iago Falque for the slot.

Considering his performances over the last two seasons, Cleiton is arguably the first name on the team list and hence, he's far away from getting the axe.

Both Borja Herrera and Javier Siverio have been underwhelming. While Borja has just a single assist in the ISL, Siverio has failed to register even a single goal contribution from 10 appearances.

The 26-year-old forward could be shown the exit door as goalscoring has been a slight struggle for EBFC and Siverio hasn't been able to contribute in that regard.

However, the arrival of Iago Falque will take place after the Kaling Super Cup, as the six current foreigners have already been registered for the ongoing tournament. So fans will have to wait a little longer to see the Falque in action.